


Justice is Truth in Action

by Fritti13, izumi2



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Again, BAMF Bobbi Morse, BAMF Jennifer Walters, BAMF Maria Hill, BAMF Pepper Potts, Civil War Team Iron Man, Gen, Justice, Not A Fix-It, Not Steve Friendly, Not Steve-Friendly, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), at all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-09-09 21:39:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 43
Words: 84,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8913607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fritti13/pseuds/Fritti13, https://archiveofourown.org/users/izumi2/pseuds/izumi2
Summary: Steve Rogers doesn't realise what he did. The repercussions of his actions. Life is not black and white, a decision create inumerous devastating riples and it's time that someone points it out to him.The world is in chaos, the symbol of all things America wanted to represent wasn't what he seemed, people are scrabling around looking for answers and now that Tony Stark is out of commission, his friends will take a stand.~*~Inspired by: Uncompromising Principles by Kizmet;Nobody's heroes by boleyn13;The Tony Stark Squad by BellaP;Therapeutic Conversations (series).Other recomendations will show up in the chaps.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This can be read separetely from the series: Irrefutable Evidence.
> 
> Male Tony, when in the series I made him into a her.
> 
> All the movies compilant.
> 
> No forgiveness.
> 
> Thanos MAY happen but it is NOT going to be used as an excuse to pardon all this mess.
> 
> The next chap will take a while because I'm going to be honest: the series was a test to see if I understood everything ao3 has to offer, never posted work here, so the series I began and finished within days just to explore.
> 
> This will take more work. So to be fair I will do this: a chapter will be posted and then three days later another one but then I will need more time to write the next two. Can't give an estimative though

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited in February, 06 2017 thanks to amazing Fritti13

Bruce sighed tiredly as he stared worriedly at his friend.  Their options were running out. Tony was supposed to be fine!

 

When Sokovia and Johannesburg happened, Bruce agreed with Tony’s plan. He was bitter and angry enough that his eyes were constantly green but his anger was nothing on his guilt and the gut wrenching feeling he had. He wasn’t in a good place, so when Tony explained what he would do, Bruce jumped at it, never even realizing that Tony would also shoulder weight that wasn’t his own.

 

How did this happen?

 

“Dr. Banner?”

 

“Hm?” Bruce snapped his head toward Hank McCoy. He had seen so many things that were so much weirder that the blue fur didn’t even faze him.

 

The other man sighed, “He is already too weak from almost 24 hours in the Siberian weather. I revised your work with Dr. Hansen and Dr. Cho on the Extremis virus, it might be our only chance.”

 

Bruce’s muscles tensed, “I'll think about it.” he said as he walked out of Tony’s room, sighing again as his shoulders drooped. He was so tired.

 

Immediately after Sokovia, Bruce had needed space, time to himself. After what that witch did in Johannesburg, he had no idea if the next time he turned into the Hulk that all the work Tony and him went through, all the progress would be enough. He failed to even think about the aftermath.

 

And now this… Civil War nonsense. Tony and Bruce weren’t idiots, actually they was on the other end of the spectrum, and they knew that after all the very public debacles the Avengers were involved in, the world wouldn’t want them to keep doing things the way they were doing them. With the rise in superhuman population throughout the world, they now constituted a considerable percentage and soon they would be forced to go through the same ordeal for civil rights as the Africans and African-descendants, minorities and women had gone through. Hell, the homosexuals were just now managing to get the right to marry!

 

Social campaigns, laws amended again and again until the rights of all groups were respected. There would be prejudice, yes, but if they all played this right and fought for it, this law would join the list of other Civil Rights and gender equality. It would be slow, painful and hard, but well worth it if, in the end, the superhumans with biological or technological enhancements were finally part of a society that would give them rights and duties.

 

The only thorn in this whole mess was Thaddeus Ross. Of course the hellish bastard would use it to once again try and get his super powered task force. The U.N. had almost exploded in indignation when Tony revealed that the reason there weren’t better plans than smashing an airport in half was because they only had 36 hours to apprehend Rogers and his little team before Ross sent snipers in with 'shoot on sight' orders. Considering the time frame, Tony didn’t want to burn precious hours by invoking a meeting with the UN to tell what was going on.

 

Ross was a slippery one and he was Secretary of the fucking State with a lot of military backing. No one knew what the President was smoking for making that decision but he knew that Ross could and would send snipers after the rest of the Avengers. The fact that he even granted more than a day for Tony was now kicking around inside Bruce’s head.

 

Ross threatened Tony and Romanova, that much was already set in stone, but **why** did he? And why did he grant them 36 hours to go after the rest of them? Bruce's brain kept trying to find a reason. He was beyond biased when it came to Thaddeus Ross, but he wasn’t an idiot. For years that cretin had managed to basically break every law that protected human rights and no one could pin it on him. Why would he threaten and then allow time for Tony to try and bring the Avengers in peacefully? Did he predict that Rogers would be that short sighted and… dumb?

 

Captain America was the symbol of freedom and justice and patriotism; a paragon for decades and now an actual superhero for the last four years, so how could Ross predict that he was such a disgusting human being in the first place? Perhaps Ross was trying to discredit the Accords? Was he afraid that a piece of legislation wouldn’t be enough for people that could break concrete walls with their bare hands? The latter seemed the most likely and yet it would depend on Rogers, or at least someone like him, reacting the way he did and wasn’t that just the cherry on top that it was the **actual** Captain America to do it in the most violent possible way and not just some newbie in tights that only a few people had heard about? And, of course, taking into account that there were people so stupid as to disagree with something they knew nothing about or who would disagree just because Captain America did. Bruce sighed again, Tony was right; people were stupid.

 

The President had already washed his hands. He had appointed Ross for Secretary of State barely weeks before the Accords were presented to the Avengers. After the U.N. meeting in Vienna and with Rogers tearing across country after country, Bruce lost count of how many people would probably be calling for who knows how many American politicians, demanding explanations, compensation and, in Romania’s case ... blood. The president was taking the only way out by cutting his losses.

 

His hands still shook with what Pepper showed them. With Tony out of commission, Pepper could now take advantage of the fact that Tony’s A.I.'s were now obeying her word as if they were Tony’s and the businesswoman would be as ruthless as she could until every single one of the exiled Avengers were behind bars. The very first thing she did was look up information on Rogers but there was nothing that she didn’t already know until FRIDAY pointed her towards Maria Hill and Wanda Maximoff.

 

What she found almost made her throw up and she finally had proof about Johannesburg that Tony didn’t appear to have used two years before. Pepper squared her shoulders. If she was going to do this, then she was going to make it right.  She was emotionally compromised, they all were, but they would hit where it hurt the most and no one would be spared.


	2. Thor and Bruce and Ignorance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because Thor is not stupid, Bruce for all his genius can be pretty oblivious and the women in Tony Stark's life are badasses, how else would they keep up with him?
> 
> A look and a half of the Wakandan ongoings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, Bruce left, but now we all know that during the Civil War mess he was fighting Ragnarok with Thor, doesn't excuse him leaving, but does excuse him not comming back until after it was all done and over with.
> 
> Yes, I know how much Bruce (and Hulk) would love to see Thaddeus Ross under 6 feet of dirt, even if they woulnd't do it themselves... but Bruce is also considered to be even smarter than Tony, don't know how true that is, but as fas my limited and short research went, he is in a single position above Tony, not exactly something that fans should rage about considering that the 'list' of smartest men on Marvel only have 8 people, there is fic on my series that explain my personal view of why Marvel choose those positions.
> 
> Anyways, I don't want to deviate from the topic: Bruce is beyond smart and very logic, I read and heard so many fans saying that Bruce would never support Tony after Ultron and because it's Ross... I don't see HOW. Just because Ross PRESENTED the Accords doesn't mean shit, he is not part of the UN, he is not anything.
> 
> Secretary of State doesn't mean UN...
> 
> Also, Ultron was his mess too, Tony may have had brought the subject up but Bruce went and agreed and unlike Bruce, Tony stayed put and dealt with the consequences, if anything Bruce should be grateful for it.
> 
> Rant over, didn't mean to ramble like this...
> 
> Have fun =*
> 
>  
> 
> Edited since January, 07 2017

Hank McCoy, Stephen Strange, Bruce Banner, Maya Hansen, Charles Xavier and Helen Cho were all working tirelessly on what Maya called Extremis. Tony already had a variation of it in his bloodstream. Tony would never have been able to remove the Arc Reactor, otherwise, since his sternum had a big hole in the middle of it. For someone whose degrees were mainly in tech, Tony did quite the job reverse engineering Extremis by himself and then manipulating it into targeting bone structure cells to literally grow back his sternum. It had made his skeleton whole again, sturdier but with the one small drawback of being a little more prone to form calcification. Hank and Bruce agreed that as he got older that would probably cause him a lot of pain in the joints.

 

Even if Tony was out of immediate danger, with that much damage he would probably be in a medically induced coma for months and, as Pepper clearly illustrated, that wasn’t an option. The businesswoman was taking advantage of the fact that Tony couldn’t stop her from gathering all possible and impossible dirt on everything and everyone who had ever laid a finger on Tony, but she knew that not only Stark Industries but the world needed Tony Stark. Bruce smiled humorlessly. He wasn’t exactly in the fram of mind that would allow him to care much about anything, but when he finally managed not to transform for a couple of months, he had read newspapers about it: Tony Stark is Iron Man. Bruce was man enough to admit to being jealous. Only a few months after Stark was found in Afghanistan, he had his gamma accident and wasn’t that just a kick in the nuts that it was mere weeks before he revealed himself as Iron Man?

 

They were roughly equal in terms of intelligence and, in the end, Bruce could even imagine what Tony had gone through in the hands of the Ten Rings. His time being a military lab rat came to mind, but in that moment the physicist had felt like it was the typical 'the rich getting richer' scenario. And yet, here they were, eight years later, and Bruce knew that it couldn’t have been further from the truth. Becoming Iron Man only exacerbated what was already there; people loved Tony Stark, but they loved to hate him more.

 

Bruce leaned back against the wall, sighed and closed his eyes tiredly. It wasn’t totally his fault; yes he did plan to leave the Avengers after the Ultron debacle but, if Bruce knew that this would happen… hindsight is 20/20 isn’t it? He was actually on another planet (realm, dimension…?) battling ogres and Ragnarok with Thor, which reminded him that he had yet to corner Thor into giving him actual answers. Bruce had a brief second of amusement, he never had the greatest of tempers, even before the Hulk, but he could only imagine his teenage-self reaction when confronted with the idea of cornering the 6’5 foot mountain of muscles.

 

“How is Anthony?”

 

Speaking of which, Bruce opened his eyes at the unusually low voice. “We are running out of options,” he answered quietly and honestly.

 

Thor's usually bright and slightly naïve features contorted into a worried frown, “I wish I had paid closer attention when my mother insisted on teaching myself and Loki healing magic.”

 

The scientist smiled a little at that, “Thanks, Thor, but even if you had we wouldn’t be sure how well it would work on humans and considering that this is Tony, I don’t think anyone is comfortable with the ‘trial-and-error’ approach.”

 

The demigod’s shoulders slumped but he nodded in agreement. There was a dazed look in his eyes, his mind clearly elsewhere, an that reminded Bruce.

 

“Did you talk to Pepper already?”

 

That was something else; Pepper didn’t yell at either of them, but she hadn't looked very happy either. The woman had explained that, no, it was beyond unreasonable to be angry at either of them because they were busy and completely unaware of the shitstorm that had hit the world. She wasn’t happy that Thor focused the blame of Ultron solely on Tony and physically assaulted him when Bruce had also not only been in the room but had agreed to the project and helped in its conception and that Bruce himself simply was too much of a coward, regardless of reasons, to shoulder the blame along with Tony. Both left the room filled with shame and guilt, their faces burning.

 

While Bruce was always filled with thoughts of regrets and guilt this was an entirely new, although unwelcoming, situation for Thor to actually revise his opinion on actions after it was basically too late. Yes, they both had to make amends. Bruce already knew that something like the Accords would happen and, although not happy that Ross had gotten involved (what an understatement), he was also smart enough not to say ‘no’ to an entire **law** just because of a single man, no matter how much he despised that man. Thor agreed to delay his actions until he was made aware of everything that had transpired and that’s how Pepper got them both into a room, made them sit down like children and listen without saying a single word.

 

What they heard made them reel. Thor demanded to know how a situation could arise that put shield-brother against shield-brother like this could come to pass. Bruce had frowned in general, not understanding why a law would make members of the Avengers (and the ‘Ant guy’, ‘Spider guy’ and…Panther…?) fight each other so viciously. Did Steve or the (here Bruce had to scoff) ‘Team Captain’ really think that the world was happy with the Avengers being vigilantes? Captain America, a vigilante? Yeah, Bruce snorted, only thinking about the American politicians faces. Bruce admitted that part of the reason the Accords were presented so fast was his own recklessness in the Ultron project, but sooner or later it would become a reality.

 

The picture of Wanda Maximoff however, made them both seethe in anger. What was she even doing here? After working with Ultron, after messing with everyone but Tony’s and Barton’s head, after unleashing the Hulk? Her? An Avenger? But it didn’t stop there. Pepper ordered Friday to gather every scrap she managed to find on Wanda and Friday, being Tony’s creation that she was, cracked the Sokovian Hydra base security feeds.  The files were destroyed as a preventive measure before the Avengers were within a hundred yards, but the cameras had still worked as well as the security feed in the church Ultron had planted his little doomsday device in. Of course a historical and religious landmark like that would have cameras.

 

Even surrounded by many walls of concrete, Bruce and Pepper could hear the thunder outside, Mjolnir crackling with power even away from Thor’s hands. He got up and stormed away but Pepper, 5’8” Pepper in heels, ran until she was blocking his path. Thor looked downright murderous but stopped, confused at her actions.

 

“May I ask where are you going?”

 

Bruce felt his eyes widening in admiration and the Other Guy stirred. The level of hostility Thor  was emanating made the hair on the back of his head stand up.

 

“I shall find that sorceress, that witch, and make her pay for…”

 

“I must remind you that you gave me your word that you would stay until I finished explaining what happened while you were away from Earth and it’s quite disrespectful for you to just stand up and walk away while I’m still talking.” Pepper's voice was cool and even during the whole thing, as if she wasn’t just a fragile human talking down to a demigod capable of keeping up with the Hulk.

 

Thor’s eyes widened a little and he looked bashful. Pepper did not react, even if privately she could finally understand why Tony was always complaining about Thor’s golden retriever look.

 

“I apologize, Fair Lady Virginia. In my haste to avenge my friend I did not intend for you to perceive my actions as a lack of honor. Please accept my apologies. I will sit down and continue to listen,” and he bowed. Pepper had to clench her gut until it felt like she would have an ulcer not to break into a grin, but just remembering the situation made it easy for her. What was hard nowadays was not to rage and scowl at the world.

 

Pepper explained that Ross was the one to present the Sokovia Accords and didn’t even pause at the deep grumble Bruce let out. Maria Hill entered the room at this point with two copies of the Accords for them to read. Much to everybody’s surprise, Thor immediately reached for his and instatnly noticed their reactions. Instead of being offended the demigod merely smiled, “Midgardians often forget that beyond a warrior, I am also a prince. In preparation for the day I would take the throne, my father spent many fortnights teaching me about my obligations and duties, this is hardly the first time such a document has been put in front of me.”

 

And, OK, now Pepper and Bruce were the bashful ones and Maria also looked a little apologetic. “I will take over from here, Ms. Potts,” she murmured and Pepper just nodded and, a little to Bruce's surprise, bid them goodbye. He didn’t even know that the two women met and socialized. Pepper usually stayed in Malibu where the main headquarters of Stark Industries America was based while Hill was in New York working with the Avengers.

 

“Good evening, gentlemen. I think Ms. Potts already covered the basics. I will explain the details.”

 

~*~

 

Steve downed another bottle of water. Wakanda was a lot hotter than any other place he had ever stayed for long periods of time. In the war, he was based behind enemy lines and it was forever snowing wherever the Commandos went.  Even with the Avengers, more often than not, they went to pretty cold places. DC and New York were the warmest places he had ever lived and they had nothing on Wakanda. He sighed contently; the air was purer than anything he had ever tasted.  He smiled at the sight of Clint and Wanda laughing in the corner of the spacious dining room and Sam and Scott yelling at the TV where a game of football was on.

He wondered if he should ask T’Challa to join them. Surely he would like to get to know them a little more. It should at least clear the air a little between him and Sam.  Steve still remembered that Sam wasn’t very impressed with T’Challa upon their first meeting. It was not like Steve didn’t understand. T’Challa thought Bucky killed his father and Sam was helping Steve because Sam knew that there was more to it, that they had to save Bucky. With any luck, T’Challa would apologize and Sam would be able to put it all behind them.

 

T’Challa actually reminded Steve of Sam a little; both very serious, but the Wakandan was more reticent whereas Sam joked around, even in the middle of missions, just to lift the spirits. Well, now that he had time to process and mourn his father and with Zemo behind bars, Steve hoped that T'Challa would open up. Scott was very lighthearted. Steve bet that if anyone would be able to make him T'Challa laugh it would be Scott and Wanda was so innocent, Steve was sure that the king's heart would melt the first time Wanda smiled.

 

Too bad that T'Challa was nowhere to be found and when Steve opened the last door he was face to face with a very tall woman, easily as tall as him. She was dressed extremely professionally in an elegant business pantsuit ensemble.

 

“Oh, hello, sorry, I was looking for T'Challa. Did I almost knock you over?” he smiled at her, hoping to alleviate the tension. The woman didn’t smile back.

 

“His highness is otherwise occupied.” her answer was short and to the point, but not very polite. Steve frowned a little. He didn’t have experience with… assistants? Beyond the ones working for Tony and they were all very courteous, all smiles and politeness and dimples. Perhaps she was just having a bad day. God knows that Steve knew how those went.

 

“Oh, OK, will he take long? I was hoping to catch him.” and smiled again. If she was having a bad day, a little chivalry could go a long way to putting her in a better mood. By the tension in her figure she needed it to relax a bit.

 

“His highness’ schedule is full for the day.” Her lips thinned even more and Steve knew when not to push. It wasn’t even two p.m. and if she was already this stressed out perhaps he was right in assuming she was T'Challa’s assistant. Bambi, if he remembered right, was always running around the Avengers Tower for the many errands Pepper sent her to and many times that depended on Tony in some way or the other.

 

“Alright then, can you call me when he is free? I would like to introduce him to others. When they got here they weren’t… in… well, they weren’t feeling very well, but now that we have had a few days to settle in, they seemed in better spirits.”

 

This time he got a reaction, one eyebrow raised and her chin lifted. She seemed…offended, perhaps even angry. Not exactly the reaction he was hoping for. Steve expected a smile, maybe her shoulders relaxing a little at the invitation. That was exactly what had happened when Wanda entered the Avengers Compound; she had been hesitant and unsure, but then Steve offered to show her around and she seemed a lot happier. Steve thought that showing this assistant that he wanted to include T'Challa would soften the woman... oh God, that was it!

 

“Oh, Jesus, I didn’t even… I’m so sorry, I didn’t even ask your name. That was really rude of me.” He offered one more smile, this time apologetic. Seriously Rogers? You talk to a lady you never met and ask her that many questions about her boss and you didn’t even ask her name? He could imagine Bucky shaking his head at him, half incredulous, half laughing his head off.

 

This, however, didn’t seem to appease her. If anything, she looked even grimmer and Steve couldn’t fault her. This would take some making up to do, but privately he thought she was overreacting a little. He had apologized!  Steve pictured Tony doing the exact same thing and never even realizing what he did wrong in the first place because he was just that ignorant.

 

“My name is Nareema, and I cannot guarantee an answer will be forthcoming.” Her tone was even stonier, but still clear and there was very little reaction on her very beautiful face. Steve thought that it was reasonable enough. He thought back to how Tony was forever running around Stark Industries and a… Prince? King? Should at least be as busy, if not more, right?

 

“That’s more than fine, thanks.”

 

Without answering, Nareema slammed the door closed again. Steve frowned at that. No need to be rude just because Steve was rude first. Perhaps Wakanda believed in ‘an eye for an eye’? But soon his eyes widened, They had arrived at the other side of the palace and he couldn't bue sure, but was this T'Challa’s conference room? Perhaps his throne…hall…? Steve blushed, thinking about dozens of executives talking to the king with words that he didn’t even know the meaning of and him just barging in.

 

That had actually happened once with Tony and boy was Pepper not happy. He sighed, Steve could admit that he didn’t know exactly what a prince or a king even did. The only thing he had to compare to it was when Peggy explained to him the British monarchy.  They were only figureheads, very important ones culturally, beyond important actually, but as far as political power went, it was in the parliament. Steve understood that and also understood that the few monarchies that still existed in the world worked more or less the same way; some with more actual political power than others, but Steve at least hoped that by now every monarchy followed the same example. He tried to picture a king having the duties and power of a president and a general. He didn’t see how that would be practical or even fair to the country.

 

But to be honest the only actual, practical comparison he had was Tony and if Tony wasn’t working on something for the Avengers, he was working on something for Stark Industries and he still managed to organize parties that Steve could barely wrap his head around. He shook his head. Tony’s veins were probably pure coffee by now.

 

Steve bit his lip. By now Tony should have gotten his letter and the phone. It had been almost five days, or perhaps not. He was expecting to receive a call first thing but he had no idea how long it took for a package to be delivered from Africa to America, let alone Wakanda to New York. Well, nothing to dwell on, he supposed. Tony would call and they would work together to abolish those Accords. Steve only hoped it would be soon, he was kinda missing his room at the Tower and the Compound in addition to the art supplies Tony had purchased for him three years ago.


	3. Dr. Strange's Percentages and Pepper on the Warpath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Strange is a doctor first, but he can't ignore his duties as a sorcerer;
> 
> Pepper begins to gather the ammo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!!!! For all those who have yet to watch Dr. Strange!!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!! Nothing major, but pretty heavy hints!!  
> .  
> .  
> .
> 
>  
> 
> Edited as of Frebruary, 8 2017 by amazing Fritti13

“We stabilized him, but the nerve damages... I don’t think there is much modern, conventional medicine can do. His extremities, especially his hands and feet, will probably lose functionality.” Stephen Strange was extremely uncomfortable while talking to James Rhodes, Air Force Colonel. He could still remember the night of the accident, how he refused to see or help the colonel that had ‘crashed in an experimental metal suit’ and here the colonel sat in his wheelchair, staring darkly at his best friend’s exams. The friend who Stephen also couldn’t help.

 

To be honest, Ms. Pepper Potts was one terrifying woman. She knew exactly what to say and what buttons to push, from a ridiculous amount of money to a guilt trip, to make Stephen even come at all, even after he explained that, at least for now, he wasn’t able to actually act in the capacity of a surgeon. She'd insisted, however, saying that even his counsel would help and, after seeing Tony Stark’s file and considering the man’s importance worldwide, Stephen could see why he was in the same room with the likes of Professor Charles Xavier and Doctors Bruce Banner, Hank McCoy, Helen Cho and Maya Hansen.

 

He pursed his lips when the Colonel didn’t answer and kept going, “I've studied the Extremis virus. Dr. Stark did a good job manipulating it, however he did it in a way that would target only his bone structure. That’s how, by stimulating the Extremis already in his bloodstream, Dr. Cho and Dr. Hansen managed to salvage his ribs, collarbones and sternum, but, as I said, the nerve damage is too extensive because of the long period of time in subzero temperatures. As it is, we were lucky to save his neurochemistry. His brain functions are stable enough for now, but that won’t last. The Cradle is not made to handle this kind of delicate work and even if we redo the algorithm, the technology and…”

 

The door to the waiting area slammed open and a man in his sixties strode in with a short haired woman on his heels, stopping short at the sight of the man in intricate blue robes and a red cape. Rhodey finally lifted his eyes from the folders in his lap.

 

“Dr. Pym, Dr. van Dyne.” he greeted with no feeling.

 

Stephen could feel his eyebrows lifting. He had heard of Hank Pym, the brilliant biophysicist and biochemist specializing in neurochemistry, which kind of answered why he was there in the first place. That and, he grimaced, Ms. Potts was ruthlessly commanding the Artificial Intelligence named Friday to gather every single speck of information on “Team Cap’ (much to the AI’s undisguised glee) so it hadn't been hard to find out who ‘Ant-Man’ was and where he got his abilities. SHIELD files were still very much public after all, and Ant-Man and his late wife, the Wasp, had been ‘on loan’ for a lot for SHIELD field missions. Hank Pym himself, had officially worked for the science division of SHIELD before quitting and founding Pym Technologies.

 

“Colonel Rhodes.” Dr. Pym answered.

 

Stephen could feel a little bit of respect for the man not balking at Colonel Rhodes’ freezing tone even if the woman flinched just a little. Still, she nodded and hurried to shake hands with both of them.

 

“It’s nice to meet the both of you.” she murmured.

 

“Let’s get down to business.” It was short and curt, but Colonel Rhodes waited until Dr. van Dyne finished talking and she didn’t seem offended.

 

Dr. Pym took the files from Colonel Rhodes and began to leaf through them, grimacing every now and again. “How far has the work on the Extremis Virus progressed?” bluntly stabbing right at the metaphorical bloody gash.

 

Stephen swallowed back his reaction. Extremis in its original formula had a rate of only 12% chance of survival let alone success. The other 88% of the people injected went critical almost immediately or mere weeks after the procedure which resulted in the patient exploding and taking everything in a mile radius with them. There was a reason every professional involved agreed that Extremis was the very last of the last resort. Nevertheless, Stephen looked Hank Pym in the eye.

 

“We've managed to isolate the changes Dr. Stark initiated back in 2013 to regrow his sternum after the removal of the Arc Reactor and Dr. Cho and myself feel confident that we could apply the same principle and even further the research in the regenerative factors on the nervous system. However, the entire thing is experimental and Dr. Stark would literally be the first human test subject. Dr. Hansen believes that, with the progress Dr. Banner has achieved, the success rate can be revised to approximately 35%, quite the progress considering that the original work was only 12%. But, like I said, we have no empirical results to base that on, so this is all in theory.”

 

Colonel Rhodes nodded, looking a little wary at Dr. Pym and Stephen had to ask himself if there was some kind of history there. Dr. Pym finished reading the medical files, Dr. Stark’s exams and their work on Extremis and passed them to Dr. van Dyne, who began to read them as well.

 

“Very well, I will cut the chase,” Dr. Pym announced, “I don’t think that, medically, I will contribute much. From what I could read, all of you have already exhausted every single scientific possibility, given that, the Extremis scenario seems to be your only option.” With that, he swept out of the room, just as fast as he entered. With a contrite look and a hasty apology, Dr. van Dyne also left. For some reason, Stephen thought she looked a little embarrassed. Well, not her fault if her father had no manners.

 

Colonel Rhodes grimaced and Stephen could feel his lips twisting unhappily too and still, he was right, the re-re-designed Extremis was their only option if none of them managed to find any other viable option to save Dr. Stark in a way that wouldn’t leave him a vegetable, or permanently on a wheelchair without the use of his hands or… well, exploding. None of those were an acceptable scenario, Stephen scowled. The world needed Tony Stark. He was not as blind or shortsighted as to believe that it was solely because of Iron Man. Pepper Potts being CEO of Stark Industries or not, Dr. Stark was the head of R&D of a Fortune 500 tech company. What was the percentage of products that Dr. Stark was the sole creator of?

 

In the three months he was reported missing in Afghanistan, Stark Industries was dealt a huge blow; thousands of people were laid off, factories closed and that meant less money for the country as a whole. Even Stephen had felt it in his pockets, everybody felt it. What would happen if the same thing that happened to Stephen happened to Dr. Stark? It would probably be even worse. What if he died? Or never woke up? The U.S. would enter a recession. If that happened, people would resort to other means to feed and support their families, violence would increase, crimes would skyrocket and, soon enough, the world would also feel the consequences. Stephen shuddered and bit his lip. He'd learned enough, he'd matured enough to also care about something else; Dr. Stark was a good man, and he got screwed over by the people who were supposed to be his teammates and now here he was, in a hospital with a 15% chance of survival while the rest of the ex-Avengers were free and avoiding the consequences of their actions.

 

Stephen sighed, his job as a sorcerer and, in Wong’s words, Sorcerer Supreme in training, (something that still made him sweat in plain fear) took him all over the world and he couldn’t hold onto the possibility that he could just use the Eye of Agamoto every single time there were casualties and destruction. Mordo was right in that much. You break the rules and there has to be consequences. With Dr. Stark out of danger, he would read the Accords. He couldn’t in good conscience say that he was protecting the world if he didn’t even listen to the people that lived in it. ‘The warnings are after’ he chuckled a little.

 

~*~

 

Pepper was a woman with fire in her belly and thirsty for blood. She never in her life felt like this, in all this time since the craziness that Tony had initiated with Iron Man, she'd never felt that this much violence was actually needed. Tony had never actually gone after the people that made the situation what it was, he'd just wanted to clean up his mistakes, his father’s mistakes. He went in, dealt with the Stark Industries weapons illegally acquired and got out. Eight years later, she still felt great admiration for his determination. He was still risking his life, she scowled fiercely, alongside people that didn’t deserve it.

 

Tony had provided a roof over the Avengers heads, food, clothes, equipment, intel, his time and they never even said a simple ‘thank you’. Worse, they thought that it was his obligation or they didn’t think at all, they took him for granted and now that Tony was no longer protecting them and protesting her actions, Pepper was on the warpath. Compartmentalize, Pepper reminded herself. This was like any other business transaction, but the stakes were impossibly high. Tony taught her most of what she knew about the business world and she would use every single lesson.

 

The survivors of Lagos, Bucharest and Berlin were her first priority. She was going to help them get justice and she would do what, apparently, no one was able to do. But the story didn’t begin there did it? While talking with the victims, their families and friends, Pepper was also revising everything she knew and everything she found out in the last couple of days.

 

“ _You begin at the very beginning_.” The memory was one of the very few times that Tony taught her anything by actually saying it instead of showing her. “ _Sometimes you don’t understand how shit went down at all. You need the entire picture but you don’t know how many steps back you have to take to be able to see it. Instead you have to retrace the steps up until the very first glitch and then make your way towards the now. Don’t forget any of the details, or any person that was involved or even present._ ”

 

Nodding to herself, Pepper vowed to put that into practice. This entire clusterfuck began with the Avengers. If it wasn’t for that group, or at least its members, Tony wouldn’t be in this situation. Or would he? She frowned at her desk. Tony never went along with Rogers; usually Pepper just rolled her eyes, but wasn’t surprised by it. Not because Rogers was the American icon, pristine from the ice, but because the guy was from the 40’s and had a completely different mentality from Tony, the Futurist. That alone would either make them the greatest of friends or the worst of enemies but it seemed that they had fallen somewhere in the middle; fighting and yelling at each other viciously enough to draw blood and yet perfectly capable of working and joking together.

 

Pepper knew that heroes had feet of clay, so she was never much impressed just because he was Captain America. Was it only Rogers though? No, her eyes narrowed even more, the very first contact that Tony had with SHIELD began with his father, one of the goddam founders, and his godmother was another. But he never had anything to do with them until Phil entered the scene back in 2008. Phil was beyond brilliant in masking his emotions but Pepper didn’t believe that **anyone** could spend so much time around Tony without sending at least one exasperated look every five minutes or so.

 

That didn’t match up. All interactions between Phil and Tony were so…friendly. Saying that Tony had a challenging personality was saying that the moon had phases, but he seemed happy when it was Phil instead of some other SHIELD crony that was sent their way. For all that he was working for an intelligence/spy organization, Phil was upfront and straightforward when Tony asked him anything, even volunteering information that Tony himself wasn’t expecting to receive. Besides, Pepper knew Phil. They were friends, or at least she thought so. She shook her head, this entire thing was making her paranoid. No, she needed to focus.

 

The very first time SHIELD lied to them… but that was the obvious answer, right? Too obvious? Or perhaps that was what made it perfect.

 

“FRIDAY?”

 

“Yes, Boss-Lady?” The AI was perfectly happy, gleeful even, for finally being able to actively protect her creator. She was proud of him, infinitely so, but it was her opinion that he shouldn’t ever again be in the general vicinity of ‘Team Cap’ and Boss-Lady would ensure that. 

 

“Find anything you can on Black Widow.”


	4. Mistakes Are Not Optional

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper begins to finecomb everyone and everything;
> 
> T'Challa's rein begins;
> 
> Tony's recovery begins on a chance.
> 
> Eddited since February, 10 2017

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because people forget that there were also many Wakandan victims in Lagos and I don't think T'Challa actually thought about them before simply saying 'Let them come'... really?
> 
> EXTREMIS!!!
> 
> Have a nice reading ;)  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> .

Pepper sighed in frustration. Aside from the absurdities she found about the Red Room, Natalia Romanova, a.k.a. The Black Widow, didn’t actually do anything illegal in 2010, meaning that Pepper couldn’t do much more than expose her part in the events surrounding Tony's Palladium poisoning. However, if Pepper did it right, she could still take all credibility away from Ms. Romanova. That ridiculous evaluation saying ‘Iron Man: yes; Tony Stark: not recommended’ didn’t say a single word about the horrible circumstances that were the context surrounding the assessment. She would need to contact Dr. Cho or Dr. Banner for this, perhaps even Dr. Pym too. It would give it a lot more weight with those names on a paper. She had to admit that she knew very little about the Palladium poisoning that almost killed Tony six years ago, but she knew that heavy metal poisoning had other side effects, so for the famed Black Widow not to say a word about it…but she needed to do this carefully. The last thing she wanted was for the world to suddenly say that the great Captain America wouldn’t have been so against his teammate of four years if it hadn't been for the Black Widow.

 

She had to close her eyes and take deep breaths, reminding herself that throwing her chair across the room wouldn’t achieve anything. Well, that wouldn’t land Black Widow in prison, but aiding a terrorist, a known criminal would and the entire world knew it, but to make it stick, the sympathy Americans had for Captain America would have to go. Pepper would get to him  but, just like Tony taught her during his exhaustively long takedown of Thaddeus Ross, she needed all the existing ammunition she could get her hands on before going to war. Gather her troops (friends and allies), get the ammo (what to strike them with), get the weapons (how to strike them), and only then would she strike.

 

Tony already had his friends working alongside her, and the allies were getting more numerous by the hour. Pepper didn’t delude herself thinking that Dr. Strange wasn't aware that part of the reason she called him in was also because she wanted him to sympathize with Tony and at least read the damn Accords before he took the ‘Captain America approach’ of saying ‘no’ to 117 countries. Dr. Pym and his daughter, Dr. van Dyne were a given. His creation was one that had been used to tear apart a German airport and Scott Lang, in his 'Giant-Man' persona, had broken international law, commited trespass, engaged in conspiracy and contributed to public and private property damage that was close to half a billion dollars.

 

Jennifer Walters, an attorney with Stark Industries for almost seven years, had exited Pepper’s office half an hour ago. Granted, she wasn’t 6’7 feet tall or green skinned back when she had begun her tenure at Stark Industries, but a ‘Hulk’ or not, Jennifer was one hell of a professional and Pepper would be damned if she'd let her go just because she could now bench press the entire building. If anything, ever since she had had her... ‘makeover’... Jennifer was more confident and assertive than ever. When Bruce came back, she had made a point of talking to him. She hadn't when the Avengers were first formed and had deeply regretted it when it was once again too late.

 

Bruce hadn't taken it very well when the blood transfusion he'd donated to Jennifer after she'd suffered a devastating accident had unfortunate side effects, but the cousins were now closer than they had been since childhood and her gamma green eyes gleemed menacingly when Pepper and Bruce explained to her about Johannesburg. Like Thor, she agreed to help revise the Accords, sit still while Pepper explained what had happened and to help where she could. Considering her vast qualifications, she was quite the weight puller.

 

Accessing the files that were dumped by Black Widow, Pepper’s current focus was now 2012, the first time the original members of the Avengers got together, and she saw the damage that damn evaluation had done but, just like before, none of them had done anything illegal so Pepper’s hand were bound. The most that this could do was put a dent in their image, but that was more than enough to start with.

 

She sighed tiredly.

 

~*~

 

Hope van Dyne bit her lip worriedly. Her father had raged and screamed after watching the tapes from Leipzig. Well, she hadn't pictured herself here: battling to save the life of a man that Hank hated just because of his last name but, in a way, they **were** partially responsible for him being in a hospital in the first place. Damn Scott, what the hell had he been thinking? He hadn't been thinking at all, and that was the problem.

 

She cursed herself, all her professional life she had prided herself in being an independent woman who took shit from no one and was rarely shaken up. And now here she was, basically behaving like a little girl that had no idea what to do, completely unsure of her place here. Hope knew what she was going to do once she was face to face with Scott: punch him out, take the suit and make him face trial. Until then, however, as CEO of Pym Technologies she had made a point to contact many of the victims in Lagos, Bucharest and Berlin while also contributing to efforts to alleviate the damages to Leipzig.

 

Wakanda was taking care of Lagos and Stark Industries was already paying all the medical bills for those who… survived Bucharest and Berlin but Hope insisted on being the one to pay for Leipzig. Two commercial airplanes and three trucks were destroyed solely because of Scott, but she also felt responsible for the pile of almost two dozen cars, the metal container, the structure of the hangar… she rubbed her temples.

 

Hope wouldn’t be of much help in the work on Extremis, which appeared to be Tony Stark’s only hope, but her father was already on it with Dr. McCoy, Dr. Banner, Dr. Strange, Dr. Cho and Dr. Hansen. Regardless of her own expertise in biochemistry, it would be a waste of resources for her to be there as well. She had already spoken with Ms. Potts and Agent Hill and now she was going to meet one Jennifer Walters, Dr. Banner’s cousin and a lawyer for Stark Industries.

 

She already had a copy of the Accords that she had reviewed with her own lawyer and marked with her own ideas for amendments. They were going to discuss how to best approach what they both knew. Hope bit her lip again. She knew almost nothing. In the middle of the day, in the middle of a date, Scott had gotten a phone call from someone named Sam Wilson (who the world now knew to be Air Force Staff Sergeant Samuel Wilson, a.k.a. Falcon) and ten minutes later it was only ‘Gotta go, this is important’. Next thing she knew she was watching Scott tearing a German airport apart, throwing people at airplanes, breaking their wings and using them as bats, kicking trucks at kings and all the while using a technology that could have killed him because they had yet to perfect the necessary safety measures to prevent damaging neurochemical effects.

 

Her hands balled into fists and her entire frame shook. She'd also watched the previous footage where Rogers had at least had the good grace of warning Scott that, should he go ahead with them, he would be a fugitive and Scott, without a second thought to his daughter or to her, had simply said ‘Well, what else is new?’ He would see ‘what else is new’! Up until now, Scott only viewed her as his trainer, as a biochemist and then as his girlfriend. He would soon see what she really was.

 

Jennifer Walters was one intimidating woman. 6’7” tall, green skinned and professionally dressed in a grey pencil skirt with matching suit jacket, her dark green hair was styled in a very elegant bun and she was feverishly typing away on a laptop that Hope noticed was actually a hologram. Dr. Stark had probably noticed before she, herself, did that Ms. Walters would break conventional keyboards.

 

“Dr. van Dyne” she greeted.

 

“Ms. Walters”.

 

~*~

 

Shuri looked… to be honest, anybody else would probably say that she looked blank, but T’Challa knew his sister. She hadn't said a single word since he had allowed Captain Rogers’ friends into the palace which, by itself, already said a lot. While his sister was hardly one to waste words, not saying anything just meant that she was trying not to say something that she would regret later in a calmer moment. Her eyes were on fire and that she even allowed her brother to see that much spoke volumes, enough to see her disapproval, but not enough to actually call her out before she was ready.

 

That was something that was always in the back of his head. Yes, T’Challa was the heir to the throne and now, since the day before, the king. But long before he won the contest to be the Black Panther, T’Challa was well aware that, while he was the better fighter by a slim margin of being a little faster, Shuri would have been the greater leader. She was much more organized and controlled, capable of seeing the big picture while it was still in motion.

He knew that he would be dependent on her counsel for as long he reined. She should and, if the situation were not so dire, would be firing up suggestion after suggestion; always in a calm, quiet voice that assured him that, while she knew her opinion was valuable and valued, his decision would be final. Shuri maintaining this silence…yes, T’Challa had to talk to his sister in private soon. The last few days had been impossible. He had just returned to Wakanda, with criminal fugitives following his footsteps and, with that scenario hanging over his head, had been crowned king of Wakanda. Sighing, T'Challa allowed himself to slump a little in his chair in the privacy of his office.

 

The other dignitaries weren’t happy and, of course, they were made aware of their…guests. The daughter of the Prime Minister had been in Lagos that fateful day. Fortunately she hadn't received much more than scrapes and a minor cut that needed a couple of stiches, but her best friend had not made it. To say that the Prime Minister didn’t agree with his decision was to say that it was only a little dangerous to try and get into Afghanistan with an Israeli passport.

 

He let himself be ruled by his feelings. First by vengeance, then by guilt. So much for all those lessons in diplomacy! T’Challa remembered the last thing his father ever tried to teach him.

 

“Two people in a room could get more done than a hundred... unless you’re trying to move a piano.”

 

Diplomacy, uh?

 

~*~

 

“I came as soon as I could.” Happy panted, staring at the mirror in horrified curiosity.

 

“They are just beginning.” Rhodey murmured, Pepper by his side.

 

Dr. Hansen carefully pressed the plunger on the syringe. The Extremis Virus in its original formula had been a glowing orange hue, almost toxic. Now it appeared more or less golden, almost like melted gold if it wasn’t for the underlying red tone. Happy would have joked that it was just like Iron Man colors if that little thing wasn’t the only hope for his friend.

 

“Injecting, Extremis 3.0, attempt 001.”

 

'Attempt’. Pepper almost choked on her rising hysteria.

 

The thick liquid entered Tony’s arm… and he began to scream.


	5. Work and Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The New Avengers work...
> 
> The rest are in vacation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marry Christmas!!!
> 
> Happy Holidays!
> 
> Short chap just as a gift, promises of bigger chaps next year ;)
> 
> Eddited as of February, 15 2017 by Fritti13 (without whom I would be screwed, big time).

Stephen could only stare in shock, the second the entire dose in the syringe was in Dr. Stark’s system he howled loud enough to make everybody in the room wince in pain. He yelled and screamed and thrashed like a man possessed.

 

They all moved in sync. Dr. Banner tried to immobilize Dr. Stark’s arms to no avail until he had to excuse himself, his eyes beginning to turn green. Professor Xavier tried to mentally calm Tony, but this was a physical reaction and his efforts reaped little reward. Dr. Hansen and Dr. Cho desperately monitored his vitals to see what was going on while Dr. McCoy tried to immobilize his legs before Dr. Stark knocked something off the adjacent table.

 

And Stephen? Well, he was useless. He stared at his useless hands; using magic in such an enclosed space would just get in the way. The ex-surgeon quietly left the room and that’s why he heard it: walls exploding and glass shattering all over the building. Ms. Potts shouted something but all Stephen could see were several mechanical parts flying in his direction. He ducked and managed to take Colonel Rhodes with him to the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, Stephen could see that Mr. Hogan had done the same with Ms. Potts.

 

The window disintegrated like it was butter and only then could Stephen see what it was: the Iron Man armor, several of them actually, going in the direction of their creator.

 

“LOOK OUT!” was all he managed to get out before a giant explosion sent him into unconsciousness.

 

~*~

 

Pepper woke up unsure where she was. That hadn't happened since she was in college. Groaning a little, she tried to get up.

 

“Ms. Potts, please try not to move. You and Dr. Strange were knocked about pretty violently.” Bruce. Opening her eyes, Pepper saw the physicist with his arms half raised to stop her, but she sensed he was unsure if she would be uncomfortable with him touching her.

 

“What happened?” she whispered.  When all Bruce did was ‘ahh’ and ‘ehh’ her alarms went off. She tried to remember; noises, crashes and Dr. Strange yelling before she was tackled… something flying towards…

 

“Tony! What happened? Is he ok? What was that?”

           

Bruce let out a breath, really not knowing how to begin. “We…injected the Extremis virus but something went wrong, or right, we’re still not sure which.” He mumbled the last part but Pepper wasn’t deaf, her eyes felt like they were going to pop out any second. 

 

“Ahm… We…Professor Xavier thinks it’s a…a…side-effect of some kind.” Bruce coughed slightly before turning to her inquisitively, “Were you aware that he had subcutaneous implants for an interface with a remote control of the armor?”

 

“Ah…the small things that he put in his arms and legs?” Pepper questioned. She didn’t understand the first bit but ‘remote control of the armor’ did ring a bell.

 

“Uh…sure”

 

“Yes, I…he mentioned them a few years ago. He said that it would allow him to call the armor to him.” Pepper recalled.

 

“Yeah…about **that** …”

 

~*~

 

“What the hell is that?!” Pepper stared incredulously at the…metal cocoon, honestly that was the best she could come up with. She recognized several armors parts that Tony has stored all over the country, all of them surrounding and melding in the space around Tony until a…metal cocoon was formed.

 

Dr. Strange rubbed his neck, “We… are not sure, but Professor Xavier assured us that Dr. Stark was in good…mental health even if he's still unconscious and Dr. Cho has this theory that we all agree with that Dr. Stark remotely called his armors in a moment of distress after waking up so violently and suddenly in an unknown environment and…” he seemed to be at loss. Dr. McCoy took over.

 

“Dr. Banner accessed Dr. Stark's personal files with Friday’s permission and…we weren’t aware that he had injected himself with nanites.  Apparently they keep his body from rejecting the implants as foreign objects and keep his immune system from trying to repel them. The remains of Palladium, that we also weren’t aware of, is also a factor…it all reacted with Extremis after we had manipulated it into targeting the nervous system and…that is as far as we were able to go before this happened.” He threw a pen at the metal cocoon. It bounced off and fell to the ground with a soft clang. Immediately the closest glove to the surface pointed at the offending object on the ground and pulverized it with a repulsor ray.

 

Pepper, Rhodey and Happy stared at it.

 

“Now what?” Happy looked like he was about to have an aneurysm.

 

All these geniuses and nothing? They looked at each other helplessly. Dr. Pym stepped forward and with a completely straight face and, without shame, (particularly considering that using the Extremis was his first idea the second he had arrived) declared, “I don’t know.”

 

~*~

 

Pepper was sure that her head was going to explode at any second now. Reviewing every single pertinent bit of information from 2012 that Friday had managed to get her would make her OD on Advil and caffeine eventually. She wondered how the hell Tony managed to survive just on this and the few packets of dried fruit he stashed like a chipmunk all around his workshop.

 

At least it would only be from 2012 to 2014. Pepper would fine comb the SHIELD files that had been dumped and Jennifer would take over from there. She would find the very first time that Captain America showed no concern or thought for anybody else besides his own goals, to everything that led to Sokovia, to the first mission where they had retrieved the scepter, to the little witch’s inclusion into the Avengers (something that Jennifer still grinds her teeth over). Like everybody else that Pepper called, she also saw the tapes both from the HYDRA base to the church surveillance and Jennifer knew that Pepper had given her free reign and, as a damn good lawyer, she knew exactly how to do the most damage.

 

Everything ‘Civil War’ involved would be reviewed. Jennifer had snorted at that; did these people even know what a civil war means? Hope van Dyne insisted that she felt guilty and responsible for Scott Lang’s actions. Even if only in Leipzig or not, Captain America wouldn’t have gotten away if not for him. The damages and medical bills were taken care of, but Hope was the one overseeing them and making sure that the victims knew they weren’t forgotten.

 

So Bucharest, Berlin and Leipzig; Hope had insisted on being the one to take care of them.

 

Pepper sighed…if… **when** Tony woke up he would be the one to decide what to do about the tapes the armor recorded from Siberia. The thought that such a disgusting, hypocritical behavior existed…it made her feel physically ill, but that wasn’t what was on her mind right now.

 

That… thing in the middle of the hospital. It had been almost three days with no change, and yet, Pepper swore that every single time she visited that thing was… smaller. Bruce told her she wasn’t going crazy. Before, the structure had covered the entire room Tony was in and a great part of the hallway, making it impossible to go through, but now it was only in the room. The hallway impossibly pristine.

 

Helen, Bruce, Dr. Strange and Dr. Pym had no idea what they were looking at but Professor Xavier assured Pepper that he would keep monitoring Tony’s brain activity and Dr. McCoy went back to the mansion to see if anyone else knew even just a little of what they were dealing with. Even Vision tried to go through, with the same results as Dr. McCoy’s pen. He was hesitant to try harder and end up harming ‘sir’. That form of address made Pepper and Rhodey widen their eyes but Vision seemed completely unaware of it and they didn’t want to call attention to it.

 

Pepper felt a small smile crossing her face. Vision wasn’t JARVIS, but there was something there that was distinctively ‘Tony’.

 

~*~

 

Wanda disinterestedly flipped through channels. Wakanda had very few American or Sokovian programs. Not that the latter really surprised her, but Wanda kinda thought that American programs were universal. The room T’Challa gave her was so spacious and beyond anything she could have ever imagined, the bed wider and softer than any other and the view out the panoramic windows was so beautiful that who needed a TV anyway? Especially one that had nothing interesting. It was either Wakandan programming in the native language, sports or news and Wanda had been trying to avoid the last one since Lagos, it **had** been almost ten days since then and Steve had assured her that people would soon forget and find more interesting things in no time.

 

He told her that when the Avengers fought those aliens in 2012, not even three weeks later, the news was already covering something else.

 

Wanda pursed her lips before shaking her head. She'd done what she could. Steve was right, if she does nothing then the next time no one will be saved! Settling for some Wakandan music program, she sank back in the huge pillows.

 

~*~

 

Sam cranked the air conditioning to the max. Could Wakanda **be** any hotter? He'd gotten soft. Three years ago he would've been able to handle much worse, but nowadays it seemed he couldn’t even survive being without his java juice. After a little run he was already sweating what felt like all the water from his body.

 

After a shower in a bathroom that was easily bigger than his house in DC, he went to get a look at the enormous library. Many of them were in English, a few in Portuguese and a lot in… Wakandan? But there was a decent collection of Stephen King, even though Sam steered clear from ‘It’.

 

~*~

 

Clint eventually got bored with throwing Vibranium (of course!) kitchen knives at the tree just outside his room. He'd already spelled his name, Laura’s and the kids and then he'd run out of knives. It wasn't like he didn’t understand Cap’s reasoning. By now Stark would've already researched and bugged every single person they could call. If they did then it would only a matter of time before he found them.

 

“ _Stark_ ”, his lips twisted in disgust.

~*~


	6. The Beggining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The woman who who does not require validation from anyone is the most feared individual on the planet.
> 
> They begin to march.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marry Christmas everyone!
> 
> Eddited since February, 15 2017 by amazing Fritti13

Jennifer Walters knew exactly what she was doing. Pepper Potts had spoken extensively with her and Maria Hill. They were going to stomp on the world before another ‘Civil War’ happened, but for now, she focused her energy on that little witch, Wanda. Ms. Potts said that they needed to get all the possible dirt they could before striking as hard as they possibly could.

 

They already had the tapes from Johannesburg, Sokovian HYDRA base and that church, (Jennifer’s dentist was going to love her for all her teeth grinding) but now how to present them to the world? Coming to a decision, Jennifer took her phone out.

 

~*~

 

She was in her less intimidating…body for this. Jennifer Walters and She-Hulk were not as different from each other as most people would think. She wasn’t like her cousin. The main difference was assertiveness; She-Hulk had the guts to do what Jennifer would never dream of, from sleeping with complete strangers and shamelessly facing them the next day to a showoff of physical strength to prove a point or for simple intimidation. But that wasn’t the image she was trying to portray here. By her side stood Hope van Dyne. Both their faces were soft but not vulnerable, their feelings hidden as much as possible but far from blank.

 

On the other side of the room were the victims affected in Johannesburg. Jennifer still shook her head at that; how Tony had managed to fight the Hulk and protect the citizens at the same time was… This was far from the last meeting. Next would be Sokovia, then Lagos and everyone that had received injuries, down to a broken toe. The lawyer was actually lucky she managed to catch Hope before she left. Both had been traveling all over the world in Pym Technologies jets.

 

~*~

 

“I understand your concern, Ms. Potts, but in light of this information I don’t see how keeping quiet will help. If anything, both you and I would be under a lot of fire for withholding this information”

 

Everett Ross silently cursed to himself for the umpteenth time that week. How had things come to this? He knew that, with the Accords well under way, the JTTF would have more bureaucracy than ever but if that meant less casualties then Everett would agree. The Avengers had so much potential that it was painful to see it all go to waste.

 

Now, not even two weeks after the Accords were presented to the Avengers, most of them, including Captain fucking America, were almost being classified as terrorists. Captain America. God! Almost all countries in Europe are up in arms and it didn't help that pretty much all members of the Avengers were American.

 

Maximoff was in the same situation as Ross; the U.S. government had washed their hands before anyone asked them to, her visa had been revoked and now Nigeria and Germany were calling dibs on her. With what Ms. Potts had just told him…the world would be after Wanda's blood soon enough but Pepper Potts, a woman that had every reason in the world to want everybody and their mother knowing everything that she had just told him, was asking him to wait.

 

“I understand the situation, Mr. Ross,” Pepper said, “but I have been in contact with quite a few lawyers and many PR and IR firms from all over the world. We want these charges to stick in a way that no defense in the world will be able to even alleviate their sentences.”

 

She stretched her hand out and put a pen drive on the table, no bigger than a thumb and a sleek, black Stark Industries logo on the side. Everett knew better than to be fooled by its innocuous appearance.

 

“I trust that after reading this, we will be in contact.” Pepper murmured.  Ross only nodded and sighed as she left.

 

~*~

 

“Are you sure that it was wise to share so much with Ross, Boss-Lady?” Friday sounded worried and it pained Pepper that Tony wasn’t there to see how much she was growing, how much she cared.

 

“An unfortunate coincidence in names, Friday. Everett is not Thaddeus Ross, he will be on our side”

 

“How can you be sure?”

 

“…because Tony is a good teacher.”

 

~*~

 

Shuri was on her way to her jet after talking to the survivors, families and friends from the Nigeria attack when she got a glimpse of two women, one with brown hair and the other black haired. Both were very professionally dressed in suits and elegant high heeled shoes. Tall and beautiful, they both made quite the sight and she recognized Jennifer Walters and Hope van Dyne. The first had become CLO of Stark Industries at the beginning of the year and the latter had been CEO of Pym Technologies for some time now. Even for two geniuses of the likes of Stark and Pym, it was alarming that they had come close to Wakandan levels of tech innovation. Wakanda experts kept close tabs on both of the brilliant scientists.

 

It was a very informative meeting. She was still thinking about what they had told her, what they had asked of her. Shuri knew that their meeting had not planned but was actually pure happenstance. Not only was her trip to Nigeria scheduled in the same hour she had climbed aboard the jet back in Wakanda but both of the American women had looked shocked at her presence. They had recognized her, however, so they had taken a chance.

 

She looked at the black pen drive in her hand while she made herself comfortable in her seat, the jet so smooth in its movements that she barely felt it at all.

 

There were plenty of reasons for those two, in particular, to want to ally with her. Some reasons more than others, she mused, but she would only figure it out after taking a look at the content of the pen drive.

 

“Just take a look,” Ms. Walters had requested, “if you’re not interested, destroy the pen drive and pretend this never happened. But we could use all the help in the world and if the princess and king of Wakanda show us that they fight for justice, as well, it will help everybody. After all, you and yours were affected by these events as well.”

 

Crossing her legs, she leaned back, and inserted the pen drive into her laptop.

 

~*~

 

Pepper cracked her neck from side to side. Now all they had to do was wait for Tony to come back to them. That metal thing had shrunk and encompassed only the genius now, not unlike the way the Mark VII, the armor Tony used the first time the Avengers had come together, looked in its offline state. She couldn't manage to suppress a half-smile, Tony was the only one allowed to make fun of the amazing things he created, and the same could be said, times infinity, for his armors.

 

“It looks like an eggplant, doesn’t it?”

 

Pepper closed her eyes tiredly. She could still see that metal thing, the same shape as an eggplant (she gave another half-smile) surrounding Tony like a cocoon. When she was a kid she used to love watching those nature videos of a butterfly coming out of one. Now the only thing she wanted was to still have the Extremis activated so she could rip it all to shreds.

Dr. McCoy had come earlier in the day with an ex-SHIELD agent, of all people, to help them with that.

 

“You… look a little familiar, have we met?” she inquired.

 

“Not personally, but perhaps you have seen a couple of photos of me?”

 

Pepper examined her more closely: relatively tall, blonde, late thirties or perhaps early forties, someone who aged well, if that was the case. She was wearing a white armor bodysuit with black sleeves and black sides that formed an ‘M’ on her chest, fingerless black gloves, a belt with pouches and an ‘M’ on buckle. It showcased her quite fit body. But something about her features were familiar.

 

“I’m sorry, you **are** familiar but…”

 

“My name is…legally was Bobbi Morse but you probably know my cover identity. I used to be a SHIELD agent until I got married and had children so, for the last 14 years, for all intents and purposes, my name has been Laura Barton.”


	7. Agent of SHIELD

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura Barton...Bobbi Morse.
> 
> She picks up where she left off. 14 years of retirement hasn't made her as rusty as she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good reading =*
> 
> Edited since February, 16 2017 by Fritti13, that puts up with my insane hours...

“So...what should I call you?” Rhodey didn’t know what to think about their newest addition. When Dr. McCoy said that he would get more specialized help back in the mansion, he thought it would be someone more…Mutant-y. Not Barton’s wife, an ex-SHIELD agent and an Enhanced.

“…Laura is fine.” the blonde woman answered, not taking her eyes away from Tony’s files.

“Ok.” he tapped uncomfortably in his wheelchair.

Pym was still muttering to himself in a corner with a laptop in his lap and Rhodey wasn’t eager to get him out of his trance. He still blamed Pym for the probability that Tony would become a metal butterfly.

Laura sighed and closed the file. Pepper’s and Rhodey’s attention went straight back to her.

“I will be honest, the closest thing that I have ever seen is with Inhumans and their Terrigen Mist. Who here knows what I’m talking about?”

“I've heard about them,” Dr. McCoy responded, “they’re not Mutants, the difference in their genetic code was caused by contact with an alien species many years ago. Through reproduction, at least genetically, they became a separated species from baseline humans.”

“What is the difference between an Inhuman and a Mutant?” Rhodey asked Laura.

“Mutants, as the name stated are…born at random, no one can actually predict when a mutation is going to happen. While still in the embryo stage, you can see in the genetic code if the child will have certain diseases or present symptoms and so on and that is the only way to tell before they are born. A child from a Mutant and a human will not necessarily inherit the Mutant parents’ abilities. They have a 50/50 chance of becoming one just like they would with… I don’t know…blonde hair. An Inhuman, on the other hand, is a completely different species entirely. A Mutant manifests their abilities more or less at puberty as their body changes, an Inhuman only get theirs through stimuli.”

“Ok…what does that have anything to with Tony and this thing?” Rhodey gestured to the metal thing surrounding his best friend.

“For the Inhumans to manifest their genetic abilities, they need to be in contact with the Terrigen Mist which is toxic to normal humans but turn those with the Inhuman gene into what is basically gods. Enhanced strength, speed, reflexes and senses are the common traits in all the Inhumans that have yet to be affected by the Terrigen Mist. When they do…it can be anything; supersonic voice, control over fire and so on. Once they are affected, however, they spend some time inside a…cocoon. It’s a way of protecting not only themselves in an extremely vulnerable moment when their genetic code is transforming their bodies from the inside out, but also everybody on the outside. The energy that can be dispersed mid-process is easily able to remove a city from the map.”

They just stared at Laura, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Pepper shook her head, “Wait, wait, what exactly does that have to do with Tony? He didn’t get affected by any ‘mist’ and…ok, perhaps I can swallow that he has some kind of different gene somewhere but…”

“I said it was the closest comparison.” Laura interrupted gently, “The process is very similar. I **believe** Dr. Stark will be fine. As far as I can tell…the armors seem… they looked like they are being absorbed by his body”

“Supercompressed.” Pym finally got out of his funk, stood up and approached them, “I didn’t have that information before. The Extremis virus… ‘fit’ into a specific part of the brain and could enhance any part of the anatomy. In this case we manipulated it into healing nerve damage and super stimulated his nervous system. It also affected the subcutaneous implants. He called his armors to him in a moment of distress and, because of the link between the implants and the armors and the nanites already in his bloodstream…”

“And now what?” Rhodey was going to get grey hair before the end of the week.

“We don’t have any precedents,” Laura looked apologetic, “but I’m fairly certain that Dr. Stark will be fine but disoriented when he wakes up and considering the power of his armors…dangerous. But his health, as far as I can tell, will be fine…or whatever his new biology accepts as ‘fine’.”

“How do you know all this?” Pepper didn’t want to offend the only person that was actually giving them answers but, after everything that had happened, she was afraid of trusting too much, even more when it was Tony’s health on the line.

“S.H.I.E.L.D kept an eye on the Inhuman population just as they did with Mutants and the Tech or Bio Enhanced. When I retired, the Inhumans weren’t as skilled at concealing themselves as they are today. I imagine that this has changed or at least will change since Black Widow dumped our files onto the internet but, even then, because of the quantity of info no one would know what to look for, not many know about the Inhumans or, at least, even less than people knew about Mutants until Professor Xavier revealed himself and their school’s efforts in their battle against the Brotherhood. Dr. McCoy’s presence in politics dampened a little of society’s early negative reactions.” she shrugged.

“That was the idea.” Hank muttered with a half-smile.

“That could have gone either way.” Laura corrected, “The fact that your presence was so readily accepted was because of your very public fight against Magneto and your clear efforts to hold back what was basically genocide for all those that aren’t Mutants.”

“Can we try and predict the results of this ‘super compression’ in Tony’s body?” Rhodey tried to get the attention back to the original topic before this began another stupid ‘Civil War’. Call him paranoid but in the last month too much had happened that he never thought would.

“Hmmm… well, if we can quantify the armors that…are being supercomrpressed into his biology perhaps we can formulate an estimate.” but Laura didn’t sound very certain, even more so after Bruce, who had kept quiet until then, wiped out a **very** long list of the armors he managed to identify by watching the security tapes and the…surface of the cocoon.

~*~

Jennifer’s phone rang only once before she answered it. The last few days had all been spent on it anyway.

“Jennifer Walters.”

“Ms. Walters, Shuri of Wakanda speaking. I have looked into the information you gave me and have done my own research.”

Jennifer stopped breathing for a second. Honestly, she hadn't expected such a fast response and had only shared so much with Shuri on a chance. She hadn't even consulted Ms. Potts about confiding in the princess, but if this paid off…  She didn’t even bat an eyelash at the thought that the Wakandan woman had verified the information. She had expected no less.

“You have an ally in me,” before Jennifer could even open her mouth, Princess Shuri was speaking again, “but before you say anything more, you should know something. You made a leap of faith when you trusted me, perhaps foolishly, but only because you didn’t have the full context. My brother is providing sanctuary for Steven Grant Rogers and his team.”

 


	8. Shuri's Request

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuri is a Princess that is trying to protect her country;
> 
> She is a daughter trying to honor her father;
> 
> And a sister trying to shelter the only family she has left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short only because I wanted show how confused and vulnerable and enraged Shuri is right now.
> 
> Edited since February, 18 2017 by Fritti13 ;D

Pepper was beside herself and she needed all the patience that coexistence with Tony had ever taught her not  to fling herself across the table. On the other side, Shuri was calmly gazing right back. Vision and Rhodey nervously surveyed them both from the background. Beside them, Hope and Jennifer, blushed and scowled.  They were in the most secure meeting room the Avengers Compound had and, Rhodey thought absently, even better; it was soundproof.

 

“I will explain myself and my actions since my presence here deserves an explanation.” Shuri began when the silence stretched on. She assumes (correctly) that if Ms. Potts tried to say anything, nothing but screams would come out and, even thought she was not to blame (or at least minimally to blame) ,after looking into the pen drive, Shuri would understand if that happened. So ...time to own up, “I was unaware of the king’s decision until Steve Rogers showed up with James Barnes by my brother’s side.”

 

Pepper twitched and had to bite the inside of her cheeks to keep from yelling.

 

“Due to…social circumstances, it was better that I waited until we were alone to question my brother’s decision. I argued that, as Prince, yet to be crowned King, he did not have the kind of power or legal backing that would have been neeed to make the decision to provide sanctuary to criminals, even if a formal classification had yet to be given by the many countries whose laws Steve Rogers and James Barnes broke. T’Challa’s actions, however, were driven by emotion, more specifically guilt. He felt remorse and shame for trying to kill James Barnes while in a blind rage because he'd been given false information. Yes, he disregarded not only those affected by Barnes’ actions and their countries but also our own. However, I could understand his position even as I felt doubt and fear for the repercussions to Wakanda.”

 

They paused as Shuri visibly collected herself. It was only for one second, but she was angry, beyond angry, she was raging furious, “I was there when, in the middle of preparations for Prince T’Challa to become King, Steve Rogers… **demanded** that the prince lend him a vehicle so he could…rescue the rest of his friends. Before T’Challa was to be crowned King, we both had the same level of authority to deny or grant such a thing but, before I could respond, T’Challa agreed.

 

I …disapproved, quite vocally actually, but I waited until T’Challa made the arrangements with Steve Rogers to express my opinion, and then the Prince gave a more reasonable explanation.”

 

Pepper could feel the skin on the inside of her cheeks beginning to break, her nails digging into her palms, but Shuri never looked away from her eyes so she kept listening. “He watched, even during his rage filled actions in Leipzig. He observed the confrontation and studied the ones that fought beside Steve Rogers.  My brother came to certain conclusions after Siberia. We discussed his assessment and I came to agree with him. The men and women who supported Steve Rogers were misinformed, ignorant and oblivious, not very unlike Rogers himself,  and in **their** minds and by their actions and reactions, they believe they have done nothing wrong.”

 

By then, everybody in the room were physically trying to restrain themselves from reacting. Shuri seemed to know this because she hurried her pace, even if her voice was still steady and calm.

 

“Once again I disagreed with his decision but as the first heir to the throne, he surpasses me in political power. In his own words, he planned to make Wanda Maximoff, Clint Barton, Scott Lang, Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers, himself ,conscious of the damage they had caused so when the time came that the world demanded justice, they would go willingly, showing the world that they knew they were wrong and wanted to make amends. T'Challa wanted them to show that there are such a thing as heroes in the world, imperfect yes, but heroes none the less. However, he has yet to accomplish such a thing. His coronation and the responsibilities for a new king keeps him too busy for his…private mission, particularly one of this magnitude. I…refrained from commenting further on the subject to him and gave him, I believe you Americans call it, 'a cold shoulder’. I do not agree with his plan, decisions or rationalization. T’Challa is my king and I will face whatever punishment the King seems fit to give for my insubordination.”

 

Then Shuri met the eyes of every member inthe meeting, “Yes, I can understand the long term gains. However, intentions don’t matter in the face of what is already done. I am Princess of Wakanda and my country will come under fire for this. I am loyal to and I love my brother, the King, but my country, my people and my land will forever come first. I have the utmost respect for T’Challa and I know that there has been no othr king in the  history of Wakanda that has had such a weight already on his shoulders before he even had to bear the crown…however, I cannot ignore a threat of this degree. I came to you, to all of you because of the information Ms. Walters presented to me.  Such a…such knowledge that I did not have, that my brother didn’t have or else he very probably would have thought twice before…doing what he did. I came to you specifically instead of doing this by myself because I am a sister that has no idea how to help her brother.

 

I needed to reveal the location of the group the world is calling ‘Team Captain America’ because I am a Princess. One of my father’s last actions was the reintroduction of Wakanda to the… ‘outside world’. The Accords were the other. My countrymen died in Nigeria and Romanian, American and German officials and civilians have also died…”

 

Shuri sighed deeply, “I know that ignorance is no excuse and you have no reason to trust me or to help me and I won’t try to defend T’Challa’s actions, but if only because of my country, if only because of my father, as a Princess and as a daughter, I **need** to do this, to support you and your efforts…but as a sister trying to protect the only family she has left, I **beg** that you help me find a way to do this without hurting my brother.”

 

~*~

 


	9. The First Step

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper takes the first step.
> 
> The rogue Avengers just watch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!!!
> 
> 2017!!!
> 
>  
> 
> PS-Legal and grammar mistakes FIXED since January, 02 ^^ special thanks for the reviewers that helped me!
> 
> Edited by Fritti13 since February, 19 2017

Shuri carefully listened to the ideas being tossed around. Ms. Potts had to excuse herself after Shuri had said her piece and the princess didn’t blame her, she was emotionally compromised. All of them were, actually, but perhaps (just this once) it could serve something good.

 

“I’m sorry your highness but the King did something that I’m not sure there is a way out of…at least not without a lot of lying and that would mean that we have a conflict of interests since P- Ms. Potts’ whole strategy is based on simply telling the truth in the most effective manner possible.” Rhodey shook his head. What a clusterfuck. In a way, the princess’ situation reminded him of Barnes and Rogers but unlike Rogers, Shuri was trying to protect her brother through words and intelligence instead of…is there even a word for what Rogers did for Barnes? Bulldozing? Literally destroying cities…?

 

“I am aware. The plain truth is that he is now officially sheltering terrorists and no good intention is going to change that fact.” A moment passed as they all pondered Shuri's plea for help before Ms. Potts got up and took the remote control to turn on wall-mounted large screen TV. It was showing a repeat of the news segment featuring Everett Ross and the U.S. president officially classifying Steven Grant Rogers and Samuel Thomas Wilson as terrorists as well as the official revoking of Wanda Maximoff’s work visa and the Denaturalization of one Natasha Romanov. The German Chancellor, Romania’s Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of Nigeria stood solemnly in the background.

 

Shuri felt her shoulders drooping. Rhodey’s eyes widened, those were some serious personages there. No wonder the capitol was so heavily guarded and the east wing of Dulles International Airport had been nearly deserted for the past week. Now all of the foreign dignitaries had stated that the seven aforementioned Avengers were now on those countries respective versions of ‘most wanted’ and ‘terrorist watch’ lists, pending investigation, for the crimes committed on their soil. When Pepper said that the first part was almost done, he wasn’t expecting this much firepower.

 

Sokovia and South Africa had yet to make an official statement but the moment Ms. Potts commenced the next part of the plan… Shuri knew that they would make their position clear within the hour.

 

By accelerating the legal suits and classification of Rogers and his little team as criminals and terrorists in the countries that had suffered the most for their recklessness; Nigeria, Romania and Germany, and that would provoke South Africa and Sokovia to quickly fall in line. Hope and Jennifer would be the ones to see to that. So far, their plan was working with amazing efficiency.

 

Rhodey had a lot of friends in the military and knew that, after the Ross debacle and Sam Wilson's embarrassing actions… the Air Force would be quick to do anything to clean up their image. The Army would follow close behind because of Rogers. For decades, just the name 'Steve Rogers’ was all the argument the Army needed but now…the Navy wouldn’t want to sit this one out either. Since 2013 Germany’s relations with the U.S. had been shaky, even with the chancellor stating that the U.S. was their most important ally. After Berlin and Leipzig, well, the U.S. would need to start kissing butt…a lot. It didn’t surprise Rhodey that their government was bending under the pressure.

 

It wasn’t like Rhodey didn’t understand where Shuri was coming from; there wasn’t much that he would be unwilling to do if that meant Tony would be safe and happy but this…no. T'Challa didn’t know the whole story, about Johannesburg and then Sokovia, but he knew enough and that would be his downfall.

 

~*~

 

“Those people are bastards!” Clint almost snarled, “Politicians, they are just trying to cover their asses.”

 

They were all watching Everett Ross, the U.S. President, the German Chancellor, the Romanian Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of Nigeria stating that the ‘Rogue Avengers’ (as the media was calling them) were now officially branded as criminals in their countries.

 

The first to step up to the microphone was the Chief Justice of Nigeria.

 

“For the crimes committed in Lagos, Wanda Maximoff, Steven Grant Rogers, Natasha Alianovna Romanoff and Samuel Thomas Wilson are being accused of conspiracy, illegal entry across our borders, reckless endangerment, destruction of private and public property to the amount of 5.7 million American dollars, murder and vigilantism. For their actions, they are officially on our most wanted list, and our terrorist watch list. We have issued arrest warrants and a request for extradition from the U.S., Sokovia and Russia.”

 

Steve put a hand on Wanda’s shaking shoulders.

 

“That is not fair; they **have** to know that we were trying to save people. We did save people!”

 

Then it was the Romanian Prime Minister, “James Buchanan Barnes, Steven Grant Rogers and Samuel Thomas Wilson are accused of conspiracy, illegal entry across our borders, reckless endangerment, destruction of private and public property to the amount of 2 billion American dollars, murder, vehicular manslaughter, theft and vigilantism. The Romanian government has placed them on our terrorist watch list and we, too, formally request extradition so they can face Romanian law. Ms. Sharon Carter is accused of providing support for an act of terrorism, criminal facilitation, accessory to criminal assault, conspiracy, murder and vehicular manslaughter. These four have now been placed on our most wanted list as well. Finally, king T'Challa of Wakanda is _persona non grata_ on our soil, pending investigation.”

 

The German chancellor stepped up next, “For their actions on German soil, in Berlin, Samuel Thomas Wilson, Steven Grant Rogers and James Buchanan Barnes are accused of hindering prosecution of terrorism, conspiracy, illegal trespass, attempted theft, murder, assault and destruction of private and public property in the amount of 5.5 million dollars. Ms. Sharon Carter is accused of grand larceny and criminal facilitation, obstruction of justice and conspiracy. At Leipzig, she is accused of conspiracy, accessory of criminal assault and criminal facilitation. Steven Grant Rogers, James Buchanan Barnes, Samuel Thomas Wilson, Wanda Maximoff, Scott Edward Harris Lang, Clinton Francis Barton and Natasha Alianovna Romanoff are accused of theft, conspiracy, destruction of private and public property in the amount of 2.6 billion American dollars, criminal facilitation, gang assault, criminal possession of weapons and criminal possession of stolen property. For their crimes on German soil, they are placed on our terrorist watch list and our most wanted list. The German government also requests their extradition to face German law.”

 

By now they were all pale and Wanda was shivering. Steve just couldn’t believe how some people could be so consumed by a power trip.

 

Terrorists? Murderesses? They were trying to protect people! And then something that hadn’t occurred to him until now: Sharon and Natasha. Steve could only hope that they were OK.

 

Finally, the US president took the stand, “We have officially revoked the work visa granted to Wanda Maximoff and are now in the process of revoking the citizenship of Natasha Alianovna Romanoff.  Former Agent Sharon Carter of the CIA has been accused of espionage and treason against the United States. We are giving our full support, both economic and political in the face of these horrible circumstances, not only to Nigeria, Romania and Germany but also to South Africa and Sokovia. Stark Industries and Pym Technologies have assured us of their total support for Nigeria, Romania, Germany and even Austria. I have spoken with the Army and the Air Force and have been told that it will only be a matter of time before Staff Sergeant Samuel Thomas Wilson, Captain Steven Grant Rogers and Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes are dishonorably discharged from their respective military branch.”

 

Steve sucked in a shaky breath, “No” he tried to force out, but the word wouldn't come. The room spun. How could it have come to this? They were doing the right thing! The Accords would have prevented them from helping people! And the U.N. attempted to kill Bucky! How could they not see it?

 

~*~

 

Shuri sighed and sipped from the tea Dr. Banner was kind enough to make her. He finished typing in Dr. Stark’s file, closed the laptop and made his way hesitantly to her. “May I sit?” he gestured to the seat on the other side of the table.

 

“Please, it’s your house.”

 

At that he chuckled humorlessly but took the seat. “I wish I could agree but, no, it isn’t. I have never set foot in here before.”

 

Shuri knew that she had no right to ask but since he had touched on the subject... “What do you mean by that?”

 

“After Johannesburg I wasn’t…in the right frame of mind to keep turning into the…the Hulk. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to be around people at all, actually. And then Sokovia, that wasn’t the first time the Widow tricked me into doing what she wanted but that was the **last** straw, I suppose. I just... left... and it didn’t even occur to me that Tony would…  Well, perhaps it did, but I never said that I wasn’t a coward.” he sighed and Shuri suddenly knew why he was talking to her at all. She'd stuck around and she was still trying to fight for T'Challa while Dr. Banner just left Dr. Stark to fend for himself.

 

The situations weren’t all that alike, but she could understand his point and the guilt that he must be feeling right now, especially since he'd actually had a hand in the whole Ultron thing.

“I think Dr. Stark would just be happy that you are here now. Yes, you left, but at least you came back and that is more than can be said for the rest of the Avengers.”

 

Shuri didn’t think that Dr. Banner felt any better but he gave her a half-smile and, to be honest, considering everything, Shuri could appreciate the effort it must have cost him to give her that much.


	10. Sokovians

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now it's Pepper's turn to watch. All she did was sent an email, now she can rest a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the help in the last chap, so many legal terms!!! I already corrected most of it!!
> 
> Have a nice reading =*
> 
> Edited since March, 03 2017 by Fritti13

“Princess Shuri?” She was immediately on her feet. After everything, Pepper Potts deserved all possible deference, but it was Colonel Rhodes who continued. “We have come to a possible solution. It won’t absolve your brother from everything he did but it does offer an alternative where he can make amends more…directly.”

 

“I am listening.”

 

~*~

 

Pepper knew better than to sigh in satisfaction. This was just the first step. Now that Hope and Jennifer had done the ground work, Pepper knew that the victims in Sokovia and Johannesburg would listen to her. From what they had told her they appeared to be suffering from various stages of the five steps of grief: shock, disbelief, anger, pain and…well they were still in transition from anger to pain and acceptance was a dot on the horizon but they had agreed to meet, something that she knew they wouldn’t even have considered two years ago.

 

The Mayor of Novi Grad, a South African diplomat, along with the people representing those affected, had accepted the universal translators provided by Stark Industries and Pepper felt a miniscule victory that all of them were going to use something that was a very public and very famous Tony Stark design.

 

~*~

 

Rhodey was sitting beside Bruce Banner and Jennifer Walters. He glanced behind him to find Hope van Dyne stood behind the couch. They were patiently waiting for the fireworks. They didn’t have to wait long.

 

There, before them, was The Avengers (the original team) before it all went wrong.  What they now knew was that things were ‘wrong’ long before the raid on the Hydra base, they just hadn't shown it. They took out HYDRA agents and soldiers like a well-oiled machine;

Captain America, Black Widow, Iron Man, the Hulk, Hawkeye and Thor.

 

The people in the room watched as the security feed recorded from the Iron Man armour showed it colliding against the shield and Captain America humorously reprimanding him with ‘Language!’. The recording revealed how Iron Man managed to find the energy powering the shield and breach their security. They observed Thor agree with Captain America's assessment that Loki’s scepter was there because of Strucker's complex and impressive level of defense.

 

The HYDRA base was, for lack of a better term, creepy but undeniably technologically advanced. The security feed was nothing short of high definition. It showed an almost  panoramic view of Iron Man stepping out of his armor and taking a better look at his surroundings. Just five minutes of vulnerability but it was enough.

 

They watched as Wanda Maximoff approached him from behind and a red mist rising from her waving fingers, drifting across Tony Stark’s eyes. They witnessed Tony as he began to hyperventilate; sweating, pale and wide-eyed. His eyes suddenly sharpened and focused on the scepter. He stretched a hand out and took it with a flourish.

 

The camera caught Pietro Maximoff as he caught up with his sister and then tried to go after Stark. She stopped him, an anxious look on her face.

 

“We’re just gonna let him take it?”

 

But Wanda Maximoff didn’t answer, she just kept staring at Stark, who was completely unaware of them, and a slow smile slid across her face until she was almost beaming, cruel and excited.

 

The second video showed a sight that no Sokovian ever wanted to see again, but no one in the world could avoid watching. Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, talking to Ultron in what the Sokovians recognized as the church where the central fight took place.

 

“Sooner or later, every man shows himself.” Wanda sneered.

 

“I’m sure they do.” Ultron intoned, “but you need something more than a man. That’s why you let Stark take the scepter.”

 

“I didn’t expect, it, but I saw Stark’s fear. I knew it would control him. Make him self-destruct.”

 

“Everyone creates the thing they dread.” Ultron scoffed. “Men of peace create engines of war. Invaders create Avengers. People create… smaller people? Ah, yes, ‘children’. I lost the word there. ‘Children’. Designed to supplant them, to help them end”.

 

“Is that why you’ve come? To end the Avengers?”

 

“I’ve come to save the world. But also… yeah”.

 

And the world watched as they willingly followed Ultron.

 

And it soon reacted to it.

 

~*~

 

Pepper had to time it perfectly. She knew that no one was ever very happy listening to  politicians telling a tale, so she would have to do it herself  and in such a way that would make people actually listen. In this case it would simply be a matter of telling the truth, something that so few people actually put any stock in. Something that **Tony** rarely did only to protect the people responsible for him being in a Goddamn hospital right now.

 

First, she had to accelerate the process of branding them all criminals and then, before the public could even react to the fact that Captain America was now a terrorist (and begin to spit out absurdities like ‘he is Captain America, so he must be right'), Pepper needed to nip it in the bud with her first bomb.

 

The footage from the Sokovian HYDRA base and the church from downtown Novi Grad had been sent to the biggest newspapers all over the world, all of them already subtitled and ready for release. She was considerate like that.

 

She watched calmly, sipping her coffee, as people all over the world released statements, expressed their opinions and took to social media. Politicians, activists and civilians alike; from rock stars to high school students, from military Generals to housewives in suburbia, everyone reacted and, for the most part, positively.

 

Step two: complete. She smiled serenely to herself as she finished her drink. Now Maria Hill was up to bat and that woman could be even more vicious than Pepper.

 

~*~

 


	11. The First Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because you are up against powerhouses... that doesn't mean people that punch very hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys have no idea how long I've waited for this chap, my hands are almost shaking!!
> 
> There will be a few others just like this one shedding some light in the situation in a way that I have yet to see anyone argumenting...
> 
> Edited since March 03, 2017

Pepper didn’t want to lose the momentum so, mere hours after the tapes were released, she had already gathered Rhodey, Hope, Jennifer, Maria and Vision, Carol and even Laura to see the responses and change what Maria would say in the press conference. She had to suppress a snort when several Army Generals stated that they had fine combed their documents and Steven Rogers had never been officially promoted to Captain. He was still listed only as a Private. The moniker 'Captain' was nothing but a holdover from his stage name from the USO show.

 

Moreover, a fact had come to light that made Jennifer want to bite her fist to keep from screaming in horror. Careful review had revealed that Steve Rogers had only had a mere week of formal training under Colonel Philips before being injected with the SSS (Super Soldier Serum) and then spending the next three months on the USO tour, doing propaganda for the military. He then went AWOL, disregarding everything else the second he learned that his best friend was missing. He didn’t think about the rest of the soldiers from the 107th.  Rogers said in later interviews that he couldn’t just let them have Bucky, no word for the rest of the future Howling Commandos nor the other 400 soldiers being held prisoner. There was a picture forming in Pepper’s mind that made her feel like throwing up; the rest of those hundreds of soldiers just...  lucked out on the fact that Bucky Barnes was there with them…otherwise Steve wouldn’t have even blinked. Perhaps it was just her being biased, she really hoped so…but she couldn’t help the thought that it was only thanks to Barnes’ presence that Rogers even bothered to go to that first HYDRA base in the first place.

 

And yet, thinking about Bucharest… then Berlin and Leipzig and **Siberia** …Rhodey subconsciously rubbed his temples, he had trusted this man to keep Tony safe when he couldn’t…

 

Rogers had spent only 16 months on a team of less than 10 members of his own choosing running missions, also of his own choosing, before crashing the Valkyrie and waking up in 2012, still 26 years old, untrained and suffering from culture shock.  He was then put immediately into the field to fight aliens…dear lord.

 

For all of Rogers’ big talk, **Tony** had more experience in the whole being a ‘hero’ thing than Captain America. By 2012, Tony had been Iron Man for four years, all the while dodging accusations of vigilantism, the Senate demanding the Iron Man armor, tracking down illegally sold Stark weapons and all with the same snark, humor and flourish worked so well to hide the intelligence behind it. In comparison, Rogers had 16 months of missions behind enemy lines, one after another, as was the norm during active wartime. Because of this, there were no formal reviews, no superior to answer to, no better trained or more experienced officers available, no updates and no chance to review missions that had gone sideways with more experienced personnel in order to improve on performances for future missions. It was a miracle no one had died until Barnes fell from that train. Pepper could see Rhodey and Hope turning pale and then green when awareness really sunk in.

 

Pepper couldn’t help it. If she felt like this, and if Carol wouldn’t have punched her for it, she would have kissed Rhodey on the lips right then and there. When Pepper had asked him to see what he could dig up from Rogers' time in the Army and the dumped SHIELD files, she had no idea that this would have been the end result. On one hand, she was suppressing laugher, on the other hand…she was horrified! **This** was the man that the world had been putting so much faith in?

 

They would wait for 24 hours so everybody could see the videos and then it was Maria’s turn to run the show.

 

~*~

 

Maria was dressed in a grey, slim fitting long dress, which had become her norm since being hired as Stark Industries’ PR rep and then her recent promotion to CCO. Her back straight, Her face impassive in front of the huge audience, Maria stepped confidently forward. She was a trained field agent but this is where she was most comfortable: the one who prepared the field for battle. And she was good, one of the best at her job.

 

“Thank you all for coming. My name is Maria Hill, current CCO of Stark Industries, and before we begin, I must ask that you refrain from asking questions until I yeild the floor, please. We have limited time available, but there will be time for a few questions after I speak. To address all the concerns that the video tapes have revealed, or at least the main ones, we will have to begin with the first time that the Avengers came together.”

 

She had carefully prepared this, not only with Ms. Potts but also with Jennifer Walters and Hope van Dyne. With stakes this high in the long term and with so much personally invested in the outcome, there was no room for mistakes. Even Captain Danvers and Colonel Rhodes, not to mention Dr. Pym and Mockingbird had helped with the input on this (and that was a face Maria wasn’t sure if she was surprised or not after seeing it again after so many years!)

 

“Since what has become known as the Battle of New York in 2012, Loki’s scepter, which was used to manipulate minds and bend them to his will, has been in a secure SHIELD facility for further studies. SHIELD’s intention was to build a mechanism that would prevent their agents’ minds from being compromised again. When SHIELD collapsed, evidence was found that the scepter was in HYDRA’s possession, which was the work of a HYDRA sleeper agent who had infiltrated SHIELD. His name was Wolfgang von Strucker, one of HYDRA’s top leaders and, because of his leaks to HYDRA, we now know the reason we've seen such recent improvementes in biological enhancements to their agents and their great strides forward in tech since 2012.”

 

She wasn’t reading any cards. She'd spent days writing and correcting this speech with various people contributing suggestions, then days memorizing every single word. A show of power, a show of committing to the values, of professionalism and competency, demonstrating that she knew what she was talking about, that she wholeheartedly believed in her cause and that she was willing to fight for it.” 

 

“Not only weapons, but the scepter which contained what is now known as the Mind Stone, was used to biologically enhance humans. More often than not, this process was a failure, but their most and only successful subjects were the Maximoff twins. Wanda and Pietro Maximoff volunteered to be part of HYDRA and their human experimentation in 2008, as soon as they turned 18. On April 4, 2014, HYDRA successfully enhanced their biology. Pietro had increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. In other words he was fast in a way that would make most sports cars look like a 12 year olds bike. Wanda Maximoff acquired neuroelectric interfacing, telekinesis and mental manipulation, meaning that she is able to move not only objects but also thoughts with her mind. All this information is public since Ms. Natalia Romanova dumped SHIELD’s files in 2014 because SHIELD was already aware of their existence”.

 

Maria carefully pronounced every word, taking the times to measure her intonation so no emphasis could slip through. It was harder than she thought it would be.

 

“On April 29, 2015, the Avengers decided to go to Sokovian territory in one of their attempts to find and secure Loki’s scepter. Due to the difficulty of the mission, all of the original members assumed, correctly, that they had finally found the scepter’s location.

 

Well aware, due to previous expericence, that mere close physical proximity to the Mind Stone could affect people’s thoughts negatively, it was decided that Thor Odinson, the only one knowledgeable in the scepter’s nature, would take it back to his home world where it could no longer do Earth any further harm. If you will recall, Mr. Odinson had already safely removed the Tesseract, the alien artifact that was used to open the portal over New York back in 2012 during the Battle of New York.  It was decided that, before Mr. Odinson took the scepter to safety, Dr. Stark and Dr. Banner would conduct experiments to identify and trace other objects or people that it could have produced and/or enhanced respectively, so they, the Avengers, could eventually find and secure these objects or people as per Private Rogers’s command.

 

And that brings us to the core-issue of this press conference: yes. The tapes are legit as confirmed by numerous Sokovian, American, German, Romanian, South African and Nigerian officials. Wanda Maximoff did indeed violate Tony Stark’s mind and, by her own confession, it was her intention to manipulate Dr. Stark into creating a weapon, specifically with the power of Loki’s scepter, powerful enough to annihilate the Avengers or, at least, to destroy Dr. Stark himself.”  Maria took a steadying breath before continuing.

 

“Wanda Maximoff, herself, admitted that she let Dr. Stark take the scepter after manipulating his mind into taking a destructive path. Both Wanda and Pietro Maximoff could have easily killed Tony Stark that day or simply prevented him from taking the scepter at all. He was out of the Iron Man armor, unaware that he was being observed and they were less than 12 feet away, but they didn’t because Wand Maximoff **wanted** Dr. Stark to take it. Actually, as you can see from the recorded footage, Wanda Maximoff stopped her brother from killing Dr. Stark, much to his confusion.

 

The Sokovian HYDRA base’s files were destroyed as a preventative measure before the Avengers arrived. However, investigations of the place were conducted that proved that HYDRA was attempting to create an artificial intelligence. Investigators have yet to reach a consensus on how much this would have influenced the scepter and, in turn, Dr. Banner’s and Dr. Stark’s own actions, independently of Ms. Maximoff’s interference.

 

With SHIELD’s files public since 2014, it is known that all of the Avengers were vulnerable to the scepter’s subtle influence. In 2012, an argument broke out among all original members of the Avengers in their very first gathering and it almost came to a physical confrontation between Private Steven Grant Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, and Dr. Anthony Edward Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man.  Its influence also made Dr. Robert Bruce Banner involuntarily turn into the Hulk in SHIELD’s Helicarrier because the scepter negatively manipulated all those within close physical proximity. According to criminal and scientific expertise, due to its alien nature, it is impossible to determinate how far its influence extended in direct correlation to Doctors Stark and Banner’s own actions in 2015 which resulted in Ultron’s existence, but after careful analysis, both professional groups admitted that the scepter itself did have a part in Ultron’s creation independently of Dr. Stark or Dr. Banner’s individual or collective actions.”

 

And now was the hardest part, where Maria would have to use all her training not to let her feelings show.

 

“The most advanced AI's that exist today were either created by Dr. Anthony Edward Stark, from the very first one, named DUM-E, that earned him his PhD in electrical engineering, to his most sophisticated ones like JARVIS, Friday, JOCASTA, TADASHI and Helen. Or Arsenal, created by Dr. Stark's own father, Howard Stark. These AI's assist Dr. Stark personally and professionally, all of them perfectly operating within Asimov’s parameters, even to the point of disobeying their creator or primary and authorized users when an order would put a human life in danger. That information was heavily covered by the media and available worldwide for anyone with access to the internet or television from the time Dr. Stark was 17.

 

So, no, it isn't a big leap to assume that Wanda Maximoff, as a member of HYDRA, was aware of those two facts: that HYDRA was attempting to create an AI specifically with the power of Loki’s scepter and Dr. Stark’s expertise on the field. However, the connection between Ms. Maximoff knowing what HYDRA’s intentions were and Dr. Stark’s being the leading expert in the same field is merely speculation, so far, since Ms. Maximoff’s location is still unknown to any authorities that could properly question her.

 

With the new evidence recorded on tape, even if Ms. Maximoff couldn’t have possibly known about the Ultron Program in the first place, Wanda Maximoff’s intentions can be questioned if something **similar** to Ultron wasn’t her aim all along, especially considering the scenario that she was aware of the facts already mentioned: HYDRA’s intention and Dr. Stark’s work.”

 

Maria paused to gather herself, then plunged on.

 

“It can be argued that she wasn’t aware of the full repercussions of her actions and that is what induced her to switch sides when it became clear that Ultron’s goal was not only the destruction of the Avengers, but also all life on Earth. But her goal always was Dr. Stark’s demise, if not in death, since she refused and even stopped her brother in their first encounter, then a demise in his personal life and his sanity. Although the creation of neither Ultron, in particular, nor its end goals may not have been her or her brother’s initial intent, Wanda and Pietro Maximoff willingly followed Ultron even after it confessed its desire for the  Avengers’ destruction. She admitted that she saw and manipulated Dr. Stark’s thoughts to, in Wanda Maximoff’s own words, ‘self-destruct’.

 

Once the scepter was in the possession of the Avengers, Doctors Banner and Stark began the usual procedures of analyzing it. Neither of them disregarded any safety measures and did not deviated from any of the usual practices and protocols accepted by the scientific community as proved by numerous investigations into their respective researches and participation in the Ultron project. As stated before, their first objective was to see if they could verify and locate any other Enhanced individuals or weapons that the scepter might have produced as commanded by Private Steve Rogers and allowed by Thor Odinson. However, unlike other times, Dr. Stark was mentally compromised and the same can be argued for Dr. Banner due to proximity to the scepter.

 

Yes, it is true that both Dr. Robert Bruce Banner and Dr. Anthony Edward Stark had initially developed the Ultron Program with no external influence, but between their first meeting in 2012 and the actual creation in 2015, both scrapped and abandoned the project due to its many programing flaws and scientific limitations. No arguments can be made that they were not the most qualified to analyze the scepter’s elements, being both the leading experts in their respective fields and having previous experience with it.

 

As stated before in a press conference in 2015, both Doctors Stark and Banner began the construction of the program and, at a later date, would have built the body it would use. Attempts were made to create the Ultron Program. However, as there was a gathering that Dr. Stark organized to celebrate the Avengers successful mission to secure the scepter and the fact that Doctors Banner and Stark were still no closer to completion, they decided instead to run only simulations as they wouldn’t be present to oversee the progress of an interface. But the decision was to run **only** simulations because, as stated before, they would be unable to personally oversee the trial run.

 

For those who are unfamiliar with the word, an interface is an element that can provide a logical or physical connection between two systems or parts of a system, in this case Loki’s scepter with the Ultron Program itself. It’s basically a line, a tunnel between the fuel, meaning the scepter, and the tank, the Ultron Program. Now is where the mystery begins, because Doctors Banner and Stark admitted to not knowing **how** it came online and all investigations have come to the same conclusion: Ultron shouldn’t have initiated at all. Dr. Banner and Dr. Stark themselves said that they were not even close to an interface.”

 

She took a subtle deep breath and had to fight a satisfied smile.

 

“Any questions?”


	12. Wake Up, Wake Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It hit a little too close to home...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More explanation, it won't end here, but there were a few unanswered questions...
> 
> Edited since April, 04 2017

 

Clint couldn’t stay here. If he stared at Wanda’s face any longer he would actually punch her. He ran from the room before he did something he would regret later. Slamming the door to his suite, he took deep breaths to try and shake off the rage. It didn’t work. He couldn’t even punch the walls because he had a sneaking suspicion that it was Vibranium and that would only break his hand.

 

He could still remember it: the blue lights, that insiduous voice inside his head, like a pressure in his brain that suppressed everything else until he could only think about this supposed ‘enlightenment’. Killing his own people and almost being responsible for the entire Helicarrier dropping out of the sky. Fighting Nat with the intent to kill her… he shuddered.

 

He didn’t know how Wanda’s powers worked but this was…he remembered how Nat had been shaken, pale, shivering and sweating, not even able to walk on her own. What had Tony seen?

 

_“…the mere close physical proximity to the Mind Stone could affect people’s thoughts…”_

They should've chucked that thing to hell if they could've, or sent it into the sun. “ _But then your wouldn’t have Vision_ ”, a little voice in his brain whispered and it sounded a so much like his wife’s and he flinched.

 

_“…Dr. Stark and Dr. Banner would conduct experiments to identify and trace other objects or people that it could have produced and/or enhanced respectively, so they, the Avengers, could eventually find and secure these objects or people as per Private Rogers’s command.”_

 

Steve never told them anything of the like. Clint had passed out on their way back so he couldn’t say what happened there but that wasn’t the dea. Thor was supposed to get rid of it, like he did with the Tesseract…” _Vision”_ whispered the same singsong voice.

 

Those tapes… Wanda knew what she was doing, she saw into Tony’s head and messed it all up to the point where… and they didn’t stop him, they were less than 12 feet away from Tony that day in Sokovia and they just let him take the scepter after Wanda messed with his head. That smile…big, malicious, ecstatic, Clint knew that he would never be able to get it out of his head.

 

_“…investigations of the place were conducted that proved that HYDRA was attempting to create an artificial intelligence.…”_

Everyone in the world knew that Tony was **the** expert on AI's who had the ability to evolve, were capable of feelings and possessing a personality…people just condemned him for it because of Ultron now. Clint felt sick.

 

_“…So, no, it isn't a big leap to assume that Wanda Maximoff, as a member of HYDRA, was aware of those two facts: that HYDRA was attempting to create an AI specifically with the power of Loki’s scepter and Dr. Stark’s expertise in the field…”_

 

If she knew…that would mean that for almost two years… and if she didn’t that would only mean how ignorant… seriously? A member of HYDRA for almost eight years and she wouldn’t know what they were up to? And then Tony’s AIs, from those bots of his to JARVIS and Friday, anyone in the world could know about his work on AIs since he was 17 if they had access to the internet… it was so obvious that it made his head spin. Even if she didn’t know, was ignorance really an excuse?

 

_“…Wanda and Pietro Maximoff willingly followed Ultron even after it confessed its desire for the  Avengers’ destruction. She admitted that she saw and manipulated Dr. Stark’s thoughts to, in Wanda Maximoff’s own words, ‘self-destruct’.”_

What had he done?

 

~*~

 

Unknown to Clint, Scott Lang was also thinking along the same lines, but he didn’t move from his spot on the couch. Still watching the press conference, he was frozen, unable to look away, like watching a train wreck.

 

Maria Hill gestured to a reporter at random, _“Yes?”_

 

_“So, back in 2015 Dr. Stark had no idea that he was under Maximoff’s influence? If that is so, what about the other Avengers?”_

_“Dr. Stark did not know about Wanda Maximoff’s manipulation. However, I cannot give an answer about the others, whether or not the former Avengers were or were not aware of Wanda Maximoff’s involvement in Ultron’s creation.”_

_“Was Steve Rogers aware, when he recruited her, that Wanda Maximoff was part of HYDRA and that the Maximoff twins also helped Ultron to further his goals?”_

_“Yes. I was responsible for intelligence and liaising with governments affected by the Avengers’ activities and right after their first encounter in battle, Steve Rogers asked about the Maximoff twins. I informed him about their background, about how they gained their enhances ablilities and their willing participation with HYDRA.  Later, it was stablished that the Maximoff twins were working in conjunction with Ultron.”_

Sam and Scott drew in a sharp breath, fearing the look on Steve's face if they turned to find out what was there. Not to mention Wanda… who had yet to say anything.

 

_“Then how come he invited her to be an Avenger in the first place?”_

_“This is mere speculation, since Steve Rogers is on the run from the authorities, presumably with Wanda Maximoff and the other former Avengers, however, I can testify that he seemed to sympathize and relate to the Maximoff twins. When I was of the opinion that their voluntary participation in HYDRA’s experiments was ‘nuts’, Steve Rogers exact words were, ‘Yes, what kind of monster let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?’”_

_“But what exactly was their motivation in being part of HYDRA? Sokovia, itself, is a place of interest mainly because of their strategic location, however, the country hasn’t had an actual violent action or casualties since 2003 and, since then, it has only been peaceful protests against the battles happening in the neighborhood countries.”_

_“Wanda and Pietro Maximoff blamed Dr. Anthony Stark for their parents’ deaths. That is why Ms. Maximoff let Dr. Stark take the scepter to, in her words, ‘self-destruct’ in the first place. In 2000, Stark Industries missiles were being delivered, as per requested by the Sokovian government. In the conflict, a shell destroyed the Maximoff’s apartment and killed their parents. Pietro and Wanda Maximoff spent two days trapped in the rubble staring at the Stark Industries logo on an unexploded missile. That made them yearn for revenge and that is why they volunteered for HYDRA in the first place, to get the power to exact revenge against Dr. Stark.”_

 

Wanda choked. What?

 

 _“Was Steve Rogers aware of that?”_ Steve blanched.

_“We don't know. But as his words indicate, it seems that he perceived their part in HYDRA as a way of protecting their country.”_ Maria asserted.

 

_“But didn’t the Maximoff twins know that HYDRA was also one of the groups responsible for the wars that affected Sokovia in the first place? That it was part of the reason they had a base in Sokovia at all? This is common knowledge for anyone with access to a TV, internet or even radio.”_

 

Tears fell silently from Wanda’s eyes, smearing her makeup.

 

 _“We don't know. Wanda Maximoff is on the run from authorities so no one can question her reasoning.”_ Another reporter spoke up.

 

_“If Steve Rogers was the one that commanded them to analyze the scepter and Thor Odinson had the authority to allow it, why did they never come forward with this information? With their own part in the Ultron Program? Knowing that the scepter could negatively influence Dr. Stark’s and Dr. Banner’s thoughts?”_

Steve gasped. He hadn't even thought about it like that…

 

_“We don't know about Steve Rogers decision, but about Thor Odinson, formal reviews were recently conducted that  indicate the agreed action related to the scepter was to see if Doctors Banner and Stark could find other enhanced people or weapons that the scepter created. Thor Odinson went through formal reprimand, particularly about his actions against Dr. Stark and he is currently on probation until further notice, as is the protocol now that he  has signed the Sokovia Accords. For now, Thor Odinson is working with Air Force Colonel James Rhodes to become compliant with the Amendments.”_

 

Steve finally reacted from his almost trance. Thor was back? He had **signed** the Accords?

 

_“Do you believe that the protocols and safety measures used would be enough to study something that is literally alien? Did Doctors Banner and Stark provide any more safety measures?”_

_“As previously stated,”_ Maria said, _“both Dr. Stark and Dr. Banner had experience with the scepter. Considering the results back in 2012, Steve Rogers and Thor Odinson both decided that the scepter, studied by the most knowledgeable members of the team, was better than every Avenger surrounding it and being susceptible to its influence. It was a situation that no one could predict, especially considering Wanda Maximoff’s manipulation and HYDRA former work on the scepter.”_

~*~

 

“I am ashamed.”

 

The man was in his late forties, pale and tall. He was Sokovian and being interviewed by a Nigerian news channel, both using Stark Industries’ universal translators, but he couldn’t be more on the nose. It got the message out: we are going to fight together.

 

“I am ashamed to be a Sokovian right now.” he continued, looking tired and worn out. He was one of the spokespersons from Ultron’s victims. “All this time, I… **we** …raged and…blamed Dr. Stark, we called him…unforgiveable names when in truth…the crime actually came from one of our own. We are a small country, perhaps even less talked about in big countries like America than Romania, so we have a very strong sense of patriotism and loyalty to our own. We look out for each other. To even think about what Wanda Maximoff did…all I can say is: Dr. Stark, I know that you are in no shape to hear this but please accept our most sincere apologies”

 

“Thank you, Mr. Koller” The screen where the interviewee stood went blue and the camera focused on the thirty-something Nigerian woman, “Before the shocking revelations about Ms. Maximoff’s involvement in Ultron’s creation, Stark Industries released a formal statement about Dr. Stark’s condition. He is in the process of numerous surgeries after being retrieved from Siberia by The Vision and a team of Air Force soldiers being led by Colonel Carol Danvers. The reason for his presence in Siberia are unkown at this time. No details have been forthcoming so far. CCO of Stark Industries, Maria Hill’s, statement just yesterday was the first official contact.”

 

“In other news, there were protests from Sokovian, Nigerian and German citizens demanding that actions be taken towards Wanda Maximoff. The repercussions of her involvement with Hydra have led Sokovian politicians to engage in a series of meetings that have been almost continuous for two days now and started barely an hour after the security tapes went online. They are trying to decide on a course of action. Words like ‘genocide’ and ‘crimes against humanity’ are being used by Sokovians civilians. In light of that, the Nigerian president will be meeting a Sokovian diplomat in a couple of days. Perhaps the horrible tragedies from these uncertain times will open the doors for new opportunities for two countries that have previously had nothing at all in common.” The woman had to visible calm herself down, “This anchor only wishes that the circumstances that allowed a very possible alliance had not been so painful.”

 

           


	13. Thouthless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because Clint Barton knows... not even half of the truth...
> 
> Scott Lang is also an engineering and T'Challa just wants answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and thank you all so much for the reviews, kudos, bookmarks and idk what else!
> 
> To adress a couple of concerns:  
> 15 days have passed since Leipzig, 14 days since Siberia, 11 days since Rogers sprung the others out.
> 
>  
> 
> Also, recommendation time:  
> Convergence by poetically_ordinary;  
> Whipping Boy by Caroly214;
> 
> Both are ongoing and haven't been updated in a while, so let's incentivate the authors!!
> 
> Edited since April, 03 2017

When the press conference was done, no one knew what to say. Sam slowly got up and walked away.

 

“Sam, wait, where are you going?”

 

Sam looked at Steve incredulously, “Steve are you deaf? Didn’t you just hear…” he paused mid-sentence and took a deep breath, “Look, that,” he gestured to the TV which now showed a commercial about children shoes, “was…I didn’t know any of that stuff and I need time to… process. Please respect that.” was all he could say before doing the same thing Clint did: getting out before things got ugly because of pent up feelings.

 

Scott just quietly got up and followed him out. He had a lot to think about.

 

Steve’s head was spinning. He could barely hear his own thoughts. Almost two years ago…Tony created Ultron… didn’t he? He frowned.

 

“…Wanda Maximoff did indeed violate Tony Stark’s mind and, by her own confession, it was her intention to manipulate Dr. Stark into creating a weapon, specifically with the power of Loki’s scepter, powerful enough to annihilate the Avengers or, at least, to destroy Dr. Stark himself.”

 

 _But …_ _she's just a kid, she probably didn’t even know what she was doing! That was it, wasn’t it?_ Steve’s eye widened. Maria didn’t know Wanda, they'd never met. Yes those tapes painted a really bad picture, but no one had ever asked Wanda her intentions. Those people just jumped all over her without even… he shook his head. How could people could be this blind?

 

“Steve?” Wanda was still shaking, crying silent tears and he cringed. How could these people do that to her?

 

“It’s ok, Wanda. I have a lot of faith in individuals, the people of the world know that the Avengers are the protectors. You should have seen some of the things they called us right after New York.  When we stepped up explained exactly what happened, though, they realized that they were wrong in blaming us. You’ll see. This will soon be just like New York. You helped us save the people of Sokovia that day.”

 

That got him a smile, a little uncertain, but Steve beamed at her. It would be ok.

 

~*~

 

Scott managed to get to his room before almost collapsing to the floor.

 

“…Dr. Stark and Dr. Banner would conduct experiments to identify and trace other objects or people that it could have produced and/or enhanced respectively, so they, the Avengers, could eventually find and secure these objects or people as per Private Rogers’s command.”

 

Captain America? **The** Captain America? Ordering Bruce Banner and Tony Stark to mess around with that thing? Hadn’t it been used by that lunatic Loki? To control people’s minds?

 

“…by her own confession, it was her intention to manipulate Dr. Stark into creating a weapon, specifically with the power of Loki’s scepter, powerful enough to annihilate the Avengers or, at least, to destroy Dr. Stark himself.”

 

WHY was she an Avenger? Scott knew shit about her. They had never even talked outside of the initial introduction and now…

 

“I _didn’t expect it, but I saw Stark’s fear. I knew it would control him. Make him self-destruct”_.

 

He hyperventilated.

 

“...Wanda Maximoff, herself, admitted that she let Dr. Stark take the scepter after manipulating his mind into taking a destructive path. Both Wanda and Pietro Maximoff could have easily killed Tony Stark that day or simply prevented him from taking the scepter at all. He was out of the Iron Man armor, unaware that he was being observed and they were less than 12 feet away, but they didn’t because Wand Maximoff **wanted** Dr. Stark to take it. Actually, as you can see from the recorded footage, Wanda Maximoff stopped her brother from killing Dr. Stark, much to his confusion...”

 

What kind of people had he helped?

 

“…The most advanced AI's that exist today were either created by Dr. Anthony Edward Stark…”

 

Of course he knew! For god’s sake he had a masters degree in engineering! It was the talk of the world when Stark presented DUM-E, but damn if the scientific community didn’t almost explode when he showed off JARVIS. Since then, well, Scott had been in prison and not much caring about anything but, before that… Friday, JOCASTA, TADASHI, Helen…Hell, people were worried that he was bringing about fucking Skynet. Countless scientists, no matter their specialization, were terrified (but not surprised) when Ultron happened. It was so easy right? For Stark that is.

 

But Scott was also aware of HYDRA’s work. That senate hearing in 2010… Stark was right when he said that it would be 10, 15 years before anyone could hope to come close to his tech’s level. Then Wanda Maximoff comes in. HYDRA was years, decades away from actually building a functioning AI. He knew the kind of work that iwas involved; the research, bio and tech. If they couldn’t do it… why not get the world’s leading expert to do it for them?

 

“…it isn't a big leap to assume that Wanda Maximoff, as a member of HYDRA, was aware of those two facts: that HYDRA was attempting to create an AI specifically with the power of Loki’s scepter and Dr. Stark’s expertise on the field.”

 

No big leap at all! Did the Captain know about this?

 

“...Was Steve Rogers aware, when he recruited her, that Wanda Maximoff was part of HYDRA and that the Maximoff twins also helped Ultron to further his goals?”

 

“Yes. …”

 

Scott rose shakily to his feet before running to the bathroom, barely reaching the toilet before his breakfast made a reappearance. Distantly, he heard a door opening.

 

“Mr. Lang? Mr. Lang, are you… oh my God, Lang, are you OK?” There were steps and a hand on his back. After finishing, he flushed and accepted the napkin held out to him and turned… and almost wished he hadn’t. T'Challa was looking at him in concern. Fuck.

“I…” he cleared his throat, “I’m fine, I think.” Fortunately the king didn’t press him and simply nodded. Scott swiped a hand down his face and sighed.

 

“If Steve Rogers was the one that commanded them into analyzing the scepter and Thor Odinson had the authority to allow it, why didn't they come forward with this information? With their Steve and Thor's part in the Ultron Program? Knowing that the scepter could negatively influence Dr. Stark’s and Dr. Banner’s thoughts?” Scott felt faint again but managed to stand up without the king offering help.

 

“Can I… can I do something for you?” He asked, trying to sound as polite as possible. He had no idea how to talk to royalty.

 

“Perhaps another time, you are clearly indisposed.”

 

“No, no, I think I've left enough things for ‘another time’. Please, tell me what you need.”

 

T'Challa clearly didn’t believe him but he indulged him.

 

“I have some concerns about…the rest of Mr. Rogers’ team… the ones that followed him. It is my understanding that you were the last one to…officially join, correct?” He spoke almost hesitantly, in measured tones. Scott had politicians speak in the same manner on the news.  People that actually sounded like they knew what they were talking about.

 

“Yeah, I only joined two weeks ago, like… minutes before the…airport thing.” he finished awkwardly, remembering that he had kicked a bus at this man…at a king…and he could have killed T'Challa. Both of them could have died since he had no idea if the Giant-Man tech would…Fuck.

 

But T'Challa didn’t look troubled by any of that. Instead, he looked pensive and worried. “Then I have a few questions for you. I would ask Clint Barton or Sam Wilson but both their doors are locked and they are not answering, and talking with Mr. Rogers is…counterproductive, so I would like your opinion.”

 

Scott didn’t ask about Wa…Maximoff. He still remembered that Wakandans died in Lagos and their king would hardly look at her for honest answers.

 

“Ask away.”

 

“What, exactly, did Mr. Rogers tell you before the battle at Leipzig?”


	14. Uncomfortable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam confronts Steve.
> 
> T'Challa gets a clearer picture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recommendation time:
> 
> Aftermath of a Civil War (series) by shadowlancer_95
> 
> Wrong Directions (series of one shots) by hcb53139
> 
> 5 Times T'Challa Talked about the Rogue Avengers and the 1 Time He Talkes to Them (one shot/series kind of) by dls.
> 
> By Our Own Hands (one shot) by Melethril
> 
> Concerns About Team Dynamics (one-shot) by KahunaBurger
> 
> Edited since March, 9 2017 by amazing Fritti13

“Cap? We need to talk” Steve glanced up from his book, Sherlock Holmes, not his usual reading material but it was one of the very few English selections available. Sam stood at the library’s entrance, pale but resolute.

 

Steve nodded. He had been meaning to talk to Sam and, well… Wanda, Clint and Scott too once they decided to come out of their rooms. Wanda he could understand but what could possibly be wrong with Clint and Scott?

 

“Yes, we need to do something about Thor. He knows almost nothing about Earth. They probably got to him the second he came back and…” but Sam interrupted him, looking a little incredulous…again.

 

“Steve, stop, stop! I don’t give a crap about Thor right now!” Sam almost groans.

 

“How can you say that? Thor is probably being held prisoner like Wanda and…”

 

“Wow, wow, wow, time out.” He held a hand up trying to stop the flood, “What do you mean, ‘Thor is being held prisoner like Wanda’? When has Wanda ever a prisoner?”

 

“What do you mean? What about Tony keeping her in the compound…” once again he was interrupted by an incredulous Falcon.

 

“Steve… what are you going on about? Stark didn’t have any authority or even actual physical power to **keep** Wanda anywhere. The Raft, that was imprisonment. The Compound, the place that she was living in anyway? At most you can call it house-arrest.”

 

“But Tony shouldn't have done it!” Steve was getting frustrated, couldn’t Sam see that Tony was keeping people locked up like animals?

 

Sam wasn’t impressed, “What exactly was he supposed to do?”

 

Steve frowned, “About what?”

 

“About Wanda!” Now the one losing patience was Sam.

 

“What about her? She is just a kid and Tony…”

 

“Was the one to get a work visa for her and she was living in his house! After Lagos, it doesn’t matter what her intentions were, it doesn’t matter what she was trying to do, none of that matters, only the consequences matter, only how we went about doing it. The **world** is blaming her for it. I agree that it wasn’t her fault, but she was responsible for it. It was her powers that caused those deaths in Lagos and it doesn't matter how indirectly. She was involved in an international affair that ended with people dead and then she went back to the U.S., living in **Stark** ’s house thanks to a work visa that **he** got for her. Who do you think the Nigerian government is going to blame for the fact that Wanda had a place to run back to, a place to avoid their punishment after all the dust settles and the investigations begin?”

 

Steve was speechless, he never thought of any of that. In hindsight, yes, Tony was always the one to handle all the Avengers administrative paperwork and bureaucratic detritus so; naturally, he had also been the one to get legal permission for Wanda to be an Avenger based out of New York…in a house with Tony’s name on the lease. Then Steve got angry.

 

“So he was only trying to protect himself? That is so selfish, how could he? Throwing Wanda under the bus like this?” But he glanced up when Sam let out a very loud sigh.

 

“Steve, did you hear anything I just said? The **world** is blaming Wanda for Lagos. Do you remember New York? How you told me that Fury told you guys to lay low while he, or at least his PR department, explained to the public exactly what had happened so people wouldn’t just look at you and blame you for the whole thing?”

 

Steve frowned, “What does that have to do with anything?” Yes, he remembered. People were rioting because all they saw was this new group, The Avengers, brawling with the end result was a destroyed downtown New York. But, afterwards, the public calmed down and praised them when they were told what had really happened. That’s why he was so confident. People were smart, they knew that The Avengers were protecting them.

 

“It is the same thing!”

 

Steve’s eyes widened, Sam never raised his voice like this, but this time he was really angry. “Wanda is a new face. Almost no one knows her. She suddenly appears in Lagos and the end result is dead people. What she needed to do after that was to l **ay low** like you did after New York, so people could understand what was going on! What do you think would happen if any of you showed your face after New York? Before people found out that you weren’t to blame? You guys would probably have been attacked and had riots in the streets against you! And if some idiots went and did the same thing to Wanda? Her control over her powers isn’t all that great and, though it’s her right to defend herself, imagine a fight between grieving civilians and an Avenger? How would that look?”

 

Steve gawked at him and Sam could only huff in exasperation, reaching up to rub his temples. God, this entire thing was giving him an enormous urge to carry Advil around. “This wasn’t what I wanted to talk about, Steve. I'll get straight to it: I want an explanation, a **very** detailed one, about everything that happened with Ultron... since the first time you went to Sokovia.”

 

~*~

 

“And that was it. I mean, I saw in the news what happened in Bucharest and then those five Winter Soldiers under that Zemo guy’s direct control? Really bad, so I agreed.”

 

T'Challa couldn’t help it, all those years of careful training and diplomatic lessons went tight out of the window and he just sat there looking shocked. At some point they both ignored a knock on the door and Rogers’ voice on the other side asking something. To be honest, they barely even heard it.

 

With a tired sigh he looked at Lang, who was gawking back in confusion. By Bast what a…, “Mr. Lang, I can assure you that this is the first time I've ever heard about other Winter Soldiers.”

 

T'Challa watched as Lang choked on his own spit before managing to get out, “What? How? Falcon said that…”

 

He held up a hand, “I heard you the first time, Mr. Lang.”

_“There were five other Super Soldiers with the same powers as Captain America. Our other teammates…they wouldn’t listen. Those Sokovia Accords stopped them from helping us. We needed your help to combat a very serious threat to the world.”_

 

T'Challa could only slump and rub his face, even if it was unbecoming of a king. A couple of phrases, Captain America’s name being thrown about and Mr. Lang committed to a hare-brained mission? T'Challa looked at him again. Lang was what? Late thirties? Early forties? And he went along just because of a five minute long conversation? The King had read his file; master’s degree in electrical engineering from Princeton, sent to jail for six years because of grand larceny, a typical Robin Hood who gave back the money the company had stolen and paid the price for it.

 

Dangerous? T'Challa, in any other occasion, would feel amusement but then he recalled how Lang had grown who-knows-how-many feet tall and had tried to step on him before kicking a bus at him. If it hadn’t been for Vision…irresponsible. Lang had a kid, an eight year old daughter, but he didn’t seem to think about what it would mean if he went and robbed that company or went to fight alongside Captain America. Even after that, they'd warned Lang that he would be fugitive if he continued with Captain America's plan, but he saw the airport security tape and that was that. His response baffled T'Challa. What about his daughter?

He sighed and focused on Lang again who was still looking back, shocked and confused. To be honest, T'Challa thinks that the expression was better suited to the face of a toddler.

 


	15. He Told Me, He Told Me Not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanting of information...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recommendations:
> 
> Price of the Unwary by poetically_ordinary;
> 
> Smoke and Mirrors by Riverlander974
> 
> Edited since April, 03 2017

“Ok, I get it.” Sam finally could breath. Steve didn’t know about Wanda’s involvement. Good. Even if not noticing that his teammate was mentally compromised kinda put a dent in the image he had of Captain America. His teammate was attacked and no one noticed? And then Thor…

 

 _“_ _Thor Odinson went through formal reprimand, particularly about his actions against Dr. Stark_ _…”_ Sam didn’t understand what Hill meant by that. Now he wished he was still ignorant. Bruce Banner was roughly Stark’s equal. Their fields differed but their intelligence level were on par with each other. He also helped with Ultron’s creation and Thor just… all of them just… God, what a mess. He had been there when Thor held Stark by the throat but he never thought that the rest of the Avengers would just… ignore it?

 

“Why did you invite her to become an Avenger? After Ultron…knowing that she was a HYDRA member?” Sam asked.

 

“Sam, she's a kid. She was wrong and she admitted it. Wanda didn’t even know what she was doing when she messed with Tony’s head. Didn’t you hear? I didn’t expect...” but Sam only rolled his eyes.

 

“I'm not talking about Ultron. I’m talking about HYDRA. They are two different things as far as I can understand.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Didn’t you hear Hill?” Sam questioned. “HYDRA was trying to build an AI! And then Wanda, a HYDRA agent, and it doesn’t matter if she later defected and helped the Avengers,” Sam hurried when he saw that Steve was opening his mouth, “manipulated Stark’s mind and suddenly he builds Ultron? We all know about Stark Tech. He has been building AIs since he was 17 and none of them ever went HAL 9000 on us. How do you explain that?”

 

Steve shook his head. What was Sam trying to say? “What? You don’t think Ultron was Wanda’s plan, do you? He killed her brother!”

 

“Yes, I know, Steve. Hill also said that, too, remember? Wanda couldn’t have possibly known about Ultron because the initial work was done by Stark and Dr. Banner. But, can’t you see how this looks to an outsider?”

 

 _“It can be argued that she wasn’t aware of the full repercussions of her actions and that induced her to switch sides when it was made clear that Ultron’s goal was not only the destruction of the Avengers, but also all life on Earth…”_ Maria’s voice was muddling his thoughts.

 

Sam closed his eyes. “Wanda was HYDRA. Because of the files Widow dumped onto the web in 2014, **everybody** knows that and, because she volunteered in 2008 and SHIELD had info on that, anyone can just go online and see that she was listed as a willing participant. HYDRA was trying to **build an AI with the scepter’s power.** The only people in the entire world that has ever been capable of fabricating a fully functioning AI are Tony Stark and Hank Pym. Suddenly, there Stark was... vulnerable and right in front of her. Wanda messed with his head and he **builds an AI with the scepter’s power**. What do you think people will think about that?”

 

Steve’s mind was a blank and he couldn’t breathe. “But Wanda… she was… she didn’t know what she was doing. She didn’t know what she was doing! She helped us! She realized what Ultron was and they both helped us, her and her brother! She fought with the Avengers!”

 

“And against them, too! Sam reiterated. “The world knows that she was allied with Ultron before Sokovia fell. They can see it online, too. Steve… the 21st century… it’s a digital book. Everything can be found online. Do you have any idea just how few people are capable of blocking information once it’s already on the internet? Hint: Tony Stark is one of the very, **very** few.”

 

Steve felt dizzy, his breath coming fast. “How can we help her?”

 

At that Sam deflated. “Look, I understand that Wanda didn’t want any of this but…after Lagos…”

 

“That wasn’t her fault!” Steve was quick to defend her.

 

“I know, Cap, but she **was** involved and now with Ultron…I don’t know if anyone **can** help her.”

 

“What about Tony?”

 

“What about him?” Sam challenged.

 

“You said that he was one of the very few that could block information on the web and he was always the one explaining things to people and…” Steve trailed off at the look on Sam’ face. It wasn’t indignant or angry as Steve half-expected after suggesting that Tony help Wanda. It was once again incredulous. Sam was looking at him like he'd never seen him before.

 

“What?”

 

“Cap… Stark has been in a coma for the last two weeks.” Sam watched as Steve blanched. He looked so shocked but… hadn't he been watching the news? At first Sam thought that it was a stunt, a way to buy sympathy but, as the days went by and SI’s stocks dropped…well, Stark was head of Stark Industries R&D department and the sole person responsible for almost 68% (and some change) of their patents. Sam was forced to believe it was true. Stark was many things, but the last time his company had suffered this much of a stock drop was post-Afghanistan, when Tony had announced that SI would stop building weapons. Since then, it didn't matter what he'd had to contend with or what he'd faced alongside the Avengers, SI always stayed on top. For its stock shares to drop so drastically…

 

“What… what happened? Why didn’t he call? Was it some enemy? How could it…”

 

“For god’s sake, Steve, he has been in a hospital ever since the Air Force managed to retrieve him from Siberia… Wait!” Sam snapped his head back, “what do you mean ‘Why didn’t he call?’”

 

~*~

 

Scott banged on Clint’s door, punching and kicking, and the only reason he didn’t put even more force behind it was because the door was made of Vibranium and a broken toe wasn’t in his plans. He was also paying no mind to the deadpan expressions on the king that owned said door and the…bodyguard? He thinks her name is Okoye. Whatever. This was important.

 

“WHAT?!”

 

“FINALLY!” Scott ignored how disheveled Clint looked and barged inside, disregarding the messy room, as well. He could hear T'Challa and Okoye following behind, but ignored them. He overlooked the almost murderous look on the archer’s face. “Did you know Stark knew shit about the other super soldiers?”

 

“What? What are you talking about?” Scott groaned and T'Challa closed his eyes, both thinking the same thing. What a shit show.

 

Okoye surveyed the room with the same blank expression, wishing that she hasn’t drawn the short straw to supervise the king’s…guests this week.

 

~*~

 

Bruce was adjusting the equipment around his friend, the cocoon was now just a little bigger than his body and beginning to take shape… human shape. They had managed to get some simple readings on Tony’s condition but nothing that was all that helpful. Laura was right; all they could do was wait and pray. He almost snorted. Bruce hadn't been in a church since he was a janitor to one once, years ago, and even then he never really thought that much about God (with capitol ‘G’). He postulates that now faith was pretty much all he had.

 

“Any changes?” Strange entered the room but Bruce didn’t even turn.

 

“None besides the obvious.” He gestured to the diminished cocoon.

 

“Well, I came to take over. Get some rest, Dr. Banner.” Strange was beginning to get worried. Banner has been by Tony's side for two days now and, as far as Strange knew, hadn't slept, eaten… or showered for that matter. When Banner didn’t answer, Stephen was ready to insist when both jumped away at the sound of metal dissolving and breaking.

 

They watched, holding their breaths, as the cocoon moved and shifted and shrunk. It looked like…it didn’t look like anything they'd ever seen before, like a metal liquid moving around and giving shape to…

 

“TONY!” Banner was by his friend’s side in the same second.

 

Still wide eyed, Strange and Banner stared at the humanoid metal…thing that was Tony Stark. The metal-like substance looked like a second skin; they could see the contours of Tony's muscles and even make out a little of his features, but it was all covered in metal: black, red, gold, silver, blue and copper. Stephen had seen the list and images of the Ironman armors…they had the same colors.

 

They looked at each other for a few seconds before Banner offered, “I'll call Maya, Helen and Professor Xavier.”

 

“I'll call Dr. Pym, Dr. McCoy and Ms. Potts.” Strange offered and that made Banner pause, still with the same lost and pale expression.

 

“Better call Vision and Colonel Rhodes too.”

 


	16. Illusions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Many have a stake on this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the lovely comments!!
> 
> Beta-ed since April, 03 2017

Sam sighed. OK, he could understand why Steve sent the phone; Stark was much better equipped to oversee possible threats than they were so they needed a way to communicate and a burner phone was actually a pretty good idea. But a letter? Whatever for? Steve said that it was personal and Sam could just see it: Steve apologizing for things that were never his fault to being with, like Lagos, and blaming himself for lowering his guard enough to allow Rumlow to activate that bomb. Sam bit his lip. Wanda was the one who should apologize to Stark, that should have been the situation.

 

_“Wanda and Pietro Maximoff blamed Dr. Anthony Stark for their parents’ deaths. That is why Ms. Maximoff let Dr. Stark take the scepter to, in her words, ‘self-destruct’ in the first place_ _…”_

 

He sighed again. Hell. Yes, rationalizing and with the benefit of hindsight, Wanda should apologize to Stark…a SI weapon killing her parents was…horrible, but Stark himself wasn’t responsible or at fault. If it wasn’t him it would have been Cordco or Pym or Hammer. Blaming the guy that built the weapon, if it even was actually Stark that designed it since he wasn’t the only engineer that worked for SI, was just…irrational. Sam had to grimace, Wanda was ten when her parents had been killed and she had to stare at Stark’s name for two days while trapped under the rubble. Rational reaction was out of the window but still, she was no longer a child.

 

That scene from the Sokovian HYDRA base…that was revenge, getting even, that smile of hers…he shook his head.

 

Now Steve… Stark didn’t deserve his apology, the way the billionaire had screwed him, Steve, Clint and Scott. But Sam couldn’t just get angry. After all, the guy was in a coma…after spending almost 48 hours in Siberian weather…because Steve didn’t hold back… and had left an injured man behind ... God.

 

~*~

 

_16 days after Siberia._

_15 days since Steve Rogers broke the others out from the Raft._

_14 days since Tony Stark was retrieved from Siberia and has been in medical care._

_12 days since Extremis was injected._

 

“I think it's in the final stages.” Laura mumbled, looking at the… humanoid metal…Tony Stark.

 

“So he will be… divested of the metal anytime now?” Pepper didn’t want to get her hopes up but this…the was the first time in a week that she could see his face… sort of.

 

Laura just gave her a forced half-smile and Bruce decided to answer with words, “Pepper…yes, by our estimates Tony will probably look like…Tony in a couple more days but we're not sure if he will immediately wake up and in what state he will wake up.”

 

None of the other doctors had the heart to say the ‘if’ out loud.

 

“OK,” Pepper took a deep breath, “OK, then we will need to accelerate the plans. When Tony wakes up I don’t want him to have any more work besides SI and **personal** projects. No Avengers, at least no former Avengers work. I will not stand for it. He will get the rest he deserves. I will literally breath down his neck if I have to. The next tape will be released soon. The Sokovian and Nigerian officials are going to give their statements tomorrow and after a couple of days we will make our next move.” The others just nodded. Pepper was doing so much and none of them had expertise in PR. The least they could do was not get in the way and help any way they could.

 

They were doctors. They knew nothing about the logistics of what Pepper was doing. It was up to Hope van Dyne, Jennifer Walters, Maria Hill, Pepper herself and Colonel Rhodes.

 

“If I may? Considering Dr. Stark’s current health and the huge amount of work that all of you have done so far, I would like to stay here, or anywhere else where I might be useful. I have been…stagnate for far too long.” Vision announced himself for the first time in the last couple of days. Rhodey blinked. Ever since the airport, the synthezoid had been withdrawn and melancholic. This was the first time that his voice had sounded like it had before. Sure, a little robotic, yes, but firm.

 

Pepper’s eyes softened, “For now, I need you to give all the help you can to Colonel Rhodes and Ms. Walters. They will be up soon enough and you are connected to the internet, correct?”

 

“Yes, Ms. Potts.” Vision turned when Rhodes began to talk. It had been awkward, but Rhodey never blamed him. The problem was almost certainly because he'd never told Vision that.

 

“Then, just keep doing what you are doing, Vision. You have been an enormous help combing through files, both the SHIELD ones from 2014 and the ones I gave you. You might not have noticed, but no one here can do that as fast and as efficient as you did, as you do.”

 

Vision smiled softly and lowered his eyes a little, “Thank you, Colonel Rhodes. However, I think you are mistaken. Dr. Stark is also quite capable and I have no doubt that he would have done the job just as seamlessly.”

 

~*~

 

“As of now, we have branded Wanda Maximoff as a terrorist in Sokovian territory. The charges are crimes against humanity, damange to public and private property, and murder. We are in the process of revoking her citizenship. Sokovia has no law that prevents the removal of someone born in our lands. As of today, Steven Grant Rogers, Samuel Thomas Wilson, Scott Edward Harris Lang, Natalia Alianovna Romanova and James Buchanan Barnes are officially persona non grata within our borders and arrest warrants have been issued to all our allies so that they can answer for criminal facilitation and secondary charges of destruction of public and private property, murder and assault. Wanda Maximoff is officially on our terrorist watch list.”

 

“And that was the final statement in a truly touching speech from Sokovia’s president. The Nigerian president, on the other hand, seemed quite pleased ,even if a little saddened, with the development. It is truly a bittersweet moment. On one side, two proud countries with no connection now have open trade, political and cultural sharing, but it is because of horrible circumstances that they now have something in common.”

 

Shuri watched as the Nigerian and Sokovian presidents shook hands. This was final. Ms. Potts would begin the next part in a day or two, tops. She was actually surprised that none of them had revealed where the rogue ex-Avengers were in the meantime but Ms. Walters was right; telling or not telling, the endgame would be the same. What they were doing…it wasn't necessary that Rogers’ team’s location be made known. Soon enough it wouldn’t be the  military or policemen or peacekeepers or politicians after them… it would be the entire world.

She closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat. What would become of her brother when it was all over and done with?

 

~*~

 

Jennifer carefully organized her notes. She'd already memorized everything she wanted to say but there was nothing wrong in revising it. After the reactions to the newest tape, the speech would need a few modifications to address the main questions anyways. She carefully arranged the framed picture on her desk. She and Bruce, at 7 and 10 respectively. Jennifer smiled. Those were simpler times and she vowed that this time… she would protect her cousin.

 

 


	17. Scarlet, Red and Green

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next tape is up and Wanda's fate is sealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for comments, kudos and bookmarks!!
> 
> One thing that has always bugged me: why would Wanda let Tony take the scepter? Then I thought about HYDRA's motivations, but that doesn't seem to suit her. Just like Ultron, HYDRA was a means to an end: Tony's destruction.
> 
> Edited since May, 05 2017 by Fritti13 whose dedication I can't belive ^^

Wanda stretched herself and got out of bed. She followed her normal routine, one that she had done for as long as she can remember: showered, changed and ate something light, (usually toast or some fruit). She went to the enormous TV room. That Spanish sitcom was almost entertaining and she could almost understand the dialogue. If anything, the firefights were cool. When she got there, however, Sam was in her preferred seat. She stopped, confused, because the airman was usually out for a run at this time in the morning. Looking around she could see Clint too, who was usually either raiding the kitchen or already watching some game on TV around this time. He always made room for her and gave her the remote, as did Scott, and Steve always visited Bucky first thing in the morning. Today, though, he was sitting there as well, and he was the only one to offer her a smile. The TV had a football game on, the volume turned just high enough to be background noise.

“Good morning, Wanda”

“Morning, Steve. Morning guys.” she stood there, confused.

None of the others answered but Sam turned to her, “Wanda, we need to talk.”

“Ok.” Now she was nervous. She had a feeling where this was going.

“We need to talk about Ultron.” Sam tried to say as civilly as possible but Steve still glared at him and Clint and Scott still weren’t looking at Wanda.  Wanda bit her lip before sighing, “I understand.”

“Do you?” Clint almost snarled but this time both Sam and Steve glared at him.

 “That doesn’t help, Clint.” Sam was trying to get answers here. The time to ‘attack’ was after they had all the facts. He kept staring at Clint until the archer huffed and nodded once again, looking out the window. Sam turned to Wanda. She looked nervous and unsure after Clint’s outburst but he muscled on. The subject was horrible and there would never be a ‘right time for it’.

“Ok, Wanda, I’m going to get straight to it - what exactly did you do to Stark?”

“I…I pulled up his strongest fears. I made it…so strong, that for him it would be like it was real… really happening to him right then and there.”

Sam nodded. “Right, and how, exactly, did it end with creating Ultron?” Sam could still hear it, in her own voice…and Ultron’s, _“You needed something more than a man. That’s why you let Stark take the scepter.”_ Sam still shivered at the metallic and yet human voice of the AI.

“I didn’t plan it, but I saw Stark’s fear. I knew it would control him. Make him self-destruct. I had no idea about Ultron but…I knew that his fear would consume him and I… wanted him gone.”

Sam didn’t mention her parents. Because of those tapes, everybody knew why Wanda Maximoff attacked Tony Stark. “ **Was** your intention to manipulate him into creating an AI?”

“I said that I had no idea about Ultron.” Wanda was beginning to get frustrated. Why was Sam insisting on that point?

“I never said your intention was Ultron, I asked if it was your intention to manipulate Stark into creating **an** AI. Now it's common knowledge what HYDRA was attempting to do with Loki’s scepter. Then you manipulated his thoughts and not even 48 hours later Ultron happens. We need to set this straight.” His calm, almost detached voice made her unclench her fists.

“No.”

“If that is the case… why did you let him take the scepter?”

“Because I saw them, saw Stark’s fears. The other HYDRA scientists… all of them went crazy because they spent too long around that scepter. I didn’t even think about AI's. I just thought of destroying Tony Stark.” Wanda looked up, she was nervous and scared but she knew she had to answer, or else they would look at her like the people at Lagos did. “Stark’s fears were connected to the scepter. I knew that there was a chance that he would like nothing more than getting that thing as far away from him as possible but there was an equal chance of him spending a lot of time around it to understand how it worked. If that happened, I knew he'd try to create something that would prevent his fear and then the same thing that happened to the HYDRA scientists would happen to him: he would go insane. He would literally become a husk of his former self - paranoid and destructive to everything around him…like the HYDRA scientists.”

No one knew what to say, not even Clint, who would have been the most vocal about the issue of mind-control. No one even knew what to think. All this time and Tony had been Wanda’s only target. She didn’t care about HYDRA’s objective. She didn’t care about Ultron’s, either. She and her brother only wanted to get even with Tony. If they brought down the rest of the Avengers to accomplish that, then so be it.

_“…the mere close physical proximity to the Mind Stone could affect people’s thoughts negatively…”_

_“…_ _her intention to manipulate Dr. Stark into creating a weapon, specifically with the power of Loki’s scepter, powerful enough to annihilate the Avengers or, at least, to destroy Dr. Stark himself_ _…”_

_“…_ _Wanda and Pietro Maximoff willingly followed Ultron even after it confessed its desire for the  Avengers’ destruction. She admitted that she saw and manipulated Dr. Stark’s thoughts to, in Wanda Maximoff’s own words, ‘self-destruct’..._ _”_

Sam swallowed. It was a huge violation of privacy but, “What did you see?”

“He... he is afraid of another invasion.” Wanda whispered.

Sam actually planned to ask much more, especially the reason why Wanda hid her involvement in Ultron’s creation. Her ignorance didn't matter, her intentions, just like in Lagos, didn't matter. She was involved but she never came forward and took responsibility for her actions. She just let Tony take the fall all by himself.

Clint and Scott blanched as Steve sucked a shaky breath and Sam’s eyes widened. The volume on the TV changed suddenly like it did whenever…

_“We are interrupting normal programming to bring you urgent news. After thinking that nothing else could shock the world in regards to Wanda Maximoff, a new tape was released this afternoon with new information on another of her victims.”_

Steve frowned. What victim? Sam and Scott exchanged a glance, not knowing what this was.  Clint only stared blankly at the TV. He was no genius like Tony or Bruce, but even he had an idea about what was going to happen. He'd been there, after all, and there **had** been another victim of Wanda's mind control...that no one knew about.

~*~

_“It’s time for some mind games.” Ultron turned to Scarlet Witch, she just nodded._

_“Guys? Is this a ‘Code Green’?”_

_Static... “yes”._

_“Thor? Status!”_

_“The girl tried to entrap my mind. Take special care. I doubt a human could keep her at bay.”_

_Quicksilver barrels into Captain America and while he is still down, Scarlet Witch gets to his mind and red mist swirls on his face._

_The next to go down is Black Widow, which allows Ultron to get the Vibranium while she just stands there._

_“This is going very well.” Ultron comments._

_Wanda tries to get to Barton but he notices her. In an elegant movement, he sticks an electric arrow into her forehead, “I’ve done the whole mind-control thing. Not a fan.”_

_Quicksilver punches him through a wall, gets his sister, and sprints away._

_“Yeah, you better run.”_

_Captain America ditches his helmet as he struggles to stay upright as Iron Man’s voice comes through the coms. “Who’s ever standing, we gotta move!” he urged._

_But no one answers, all of them with red irises, sweating and almost gasping for air. The external cameras showed Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. She was sitting down, writhing in pain as her brother hovered over her worriedly, “What can I do?”_

_She shakes her head, “It hurts!”_

_“I’m going to kill him! I will be right back.”_

_“No, no, I’m alright.” she heaved, “I want…” she turned her head towards the Avengers Quinjet, where Bruce Banner was hesitantly stepping out, “I want to finish the plan.” Her eyes shine red and her brother’s expression mirrors hers, serious and angry. “I want the big one.”_

_Bruce Banner stares at Ulysses Klaue’s ship worriedly._

_It cuts to Iron Man’s helmet, how he grappled midair with Ultron and finally cornered him, “The Vibranium is getting away.” Ultron warns lightly._

_“And you’re not going anywhere.” The hand repulsors switch to a mini-missile._

_“Of course not. I’m already there. You’ll catch on, but first, you might need to catch Dr. Banner,” the AI taunted._

_And then Ultron exploded and Iron Man flew away._

_“News footage, keyword: Hulk. Natasha, I could really use a lullaby.”_

_But Black Widow was sitting down, not even aware that Hawkeye was right in front of her, trying to get her attention. She was staring at nothing, her eyes still glowing red._

_“That’s not gonna happen, not for a while.” Clint put her arm around his shoulders so they could get up. “The whole team is down, you got no backup here.”_

_Captain America was on his back, his arms splayed and staring up with a shocked expression. Thor was on his knees trying to get up but ultimately failing. Iron Man just flew at top speed towards Johannesburg for a few seconds before deciding, “I’m calling in Veronica.”_

_Johannesburg’s street’s security tapes took over, showing how Iron Man was enveloped by an armor even bigger than the Hulk and the billionaire took him on, one on one._

_“You listening? That little witch is messing with your mind!”_

~*~

Jennifer took Bruce’s hand and they watched, coldly, as South Africans protested almost violently in front of the Sokovian and American embassies. Soon, Americans and Sokovians were also making their opinion known, and not even a few minutes later… the entire world.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think that this is the end of the “recalls” of Maria Hill's press conference.


	18. Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick chap!
> 
> Edited since April, 03 2017

A single day later, Jennifer made her way to the podium of a Stark Industries’ facility conference hall. Fittingly enough, it was the same one that Tony had used post-Afghanistan when he revealed himself as Iron Man. She was in her less threatening form for this. As much as it could be taken as She-Hulk standing up and having her cousin’s back, it could also appear that she was emotionally compromised. Because of Window’s file dumping in 2014, everybody knew what triggered a Hulk: emotional response.

 

“Thank you all for coming. My name is Jennifer Walters, current CLO of Stark Industries and Stark Solutions. I will be addressing the concerns regarding the newest revelations about Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch's, actions. As confirmed by multiple specialists from South Africa, America, Sokovia and Nigeria, the tapes are legitimate”. Unlike Maria Hill, who  showed a professional but willing image, Jennifer was just cold.

 

“To begin with, Dr. Stark managed to extrapolate the reason Ultron targeted and, with the assistance of the Maximoff twins, killed Wolfgang von Strucker. It was because of his knowledge of Ulysses Klaue, a Belgian black market arms dealer from Salvage Yard, on the African Coast. He had stolen almost 200 pounds of Vibranium from Wakandan territory. It was the belief of the Avengers that Ultron would've used it to create an indestructible body for himself, so they tried to stop him. The Maximoff twins were there, however, and Wanda Maximoff incapacitated all the other Avengers with her mind control powers, with the exception of Clint Barton and Dr. Anthony Stark, who was already compromised beforehand.

 

This resulted in the incapacitation of Prince Thor Odinson, Private Steven Rogers, Natalia Romanova and the unwilling transformation of Dr. Bruce Banner into the Hulk. The result of his conversion was an attack in the heavily populated city of Johannesburg.  Dr. Stark, as Ironman, was the only able body capable of making a stand against the enthralled mind of the Hulk. Any questions?.”

 

“Did Steve Rogers and the other Avengers deliberately hide this information?”

 

“It was never discussed, so the reasons for this are still just speculations.” Jennifer was hard pressed to contain a snarl. She had some ideas, though.

 

“I can understand Steve Rogers’ punishing stance in kicking Dr. Stark out of the Avengers after Ultron, especially if he didn’t know about the scepter’s influence and Wanda Maximoff’s involvement, but what about Dr. Banner? If he knew that it was Wanda Maximoff’s doing, why was the Hulk also kicked out?”

 

“No one was kicked out of the Avengers. Doctors Stark and Banner willingly and consciously distanced themselves from the other members, well aware of how this would be perceived by the public.” She took a deep breath. When she'd learned what had happened, for a single second she was irrationally angry at Tony, but then Ultron and Sokovia…and he was covering the little witch’s back without even knowing it.

 

“Why would Dr. Stark stand for that? Or Dr. Banner, for that matter? We all know how uncomfortable he is about turning into the Hulk and I can’t possibly imagine the strain, physical and psychological. But Johannesburg…Dr. Stark more than once defended Dr. Banner and his alter ego, the Hulk. Why would he allow Wanda Maximoff to join the Avengers, to live in his house and pay for all her things, down to food and clothing, after Johannesburg?”

 

She almost laughed at that but managed to keep her composure. “Ms. Maximoff’s disdain for Dr. Stark is no news to Dr. Stark himself, and he always thought that it was because Ultron killed her brother. Dr. Stark felt guilty. But beyond that, Steve Rogers had already vouched for her and, without consulting anyone else on the team, invited Wanda Maximoff to be part of the Avengers. This situation, coupled with the fact that Doctors Stark and Banner knew that a group like the Avengers is necessary, made the decision easy for them.”

 

~*~

 

Steve frowned, “Who is this woman?”

 

“Jennifer Walters? You serious?” Clint looked at him, sarcasm bordering on shock in his voice.

 

“She's the She-Hulk.” Sam mumbled, still numb from the news that Johannesburg was basically the pre-show Sokovia.

 

“Who?”

 

“She started as a SI lawyer about seven years ago. Almost five years back she was in an accident and her cousin donated blood to her… she's Bruce Banner’s cousin.” Sam’s answer made Steve blanch.

 

~*~

 

Thor sighed tiredly. After completing his studies under the All-Father, he honestly thought that his days hunched over thick stacks of paper were over. He knew that it was wishful thinking. The All-Father often sat in his study surrounded by paperwork. After that first coronation, Thor knew that he still had much to learn before bearing the weight of the crown. So **much** more to learn, he thought bitterly.

 

The Asgardian remembered how horribly he had always reacted when a young Loki outshown him in their mother’s specialty: magic. He was often cruel and violent and hardly (if ever) apologized for his harsh actions and words. After all these millennia, he hadn't changed, had he? Thor rubbed his neck, tired, frustrated and sad.

 

Without knowing what exactly happened, without even knowing about an attack against a shield-brother, he'd strode through the room and lifted Anthony by his throat. Thor was not ignorant to how much more vulnerable Iron Man was out of the armor than any of their other fellow warriors and he still did it… the same way Loki had done before throwing Iron Man out of a window. The guilt burned hot and slow through his body.

 

Closing the Sokovia Accords, Thor stood up. “Already finished?” Lady Jennifer of the Walters House inquired and he smiled gratefully at her.

 

“Yes, Lady Jennifer. Your help with what you call ‘legal terms’ was most appreciated.”

 

She only smiled a little. “I was actually a little surprised that you barely needed my help. I doubt Asgard and Earth have many similarities in law.”

 

“Oh, I am no stranger to the habit of sitting and reading a document of this nature, even if I thought it would be a few centuries before I had to worry about a similar task.” he finished with a morose sigh that earned a small laugh out of Lady Jennifer. He must introduce her to his fair Lady Jane one day. They would become fond of each other, he was sure.

 

“Are you ready for tomorrow then?” she asked while gathering her own papers and putting them in what she called a ‘briefcase’.

 

“I believe so. If I may… Lady Pepper and Lady Maria have often prepared for this task with…notes?”

 

“Well… to be honest, you already told us what you plan to say and…I think Vision convinced Ms. Potts to… give you the benefit of the doubt.” But Jennifer still bit her lip worriedly.

 

“Forgive me, but ‘benefit of the doubt’ is not an expression I am familiar with.”

 

“Oh, it just means that she is trusting in you.” _And so am I_. She forced a half-smile when Thor beamed at her.


	19. Thor, Thor, Thor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because sometimes... it is better this way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I fixed grammar and spelling in the last chap, Thor's segment was pretty messed up but now it is all good. Hope you guys like this chap!
> 
> Edited since April, 03 2017

Thor was in full Asgardian glory. The armor shown in the sun, the red cape pristine and the hammer in his hand. He shook hands with the new US representative to the UN, Sokovian and South African diplomats in the background. Thor walked to the podium set up in front of Stark Tower. Jennifer tried her best to hide her jitters and she knew that Pepper didn’t even come at all because she would be unable to do the same.

 

“Good morning to you all!” The Thunder God boomed, much to Jennifer’s chagrin. She managed not to wince, unlike the reporters that were closest to the speakers.

 

“I have not declared myself up to this moment because I wanted to take the time to understand all that the Sokovia Accords entail. To understand why I support the Accords, I will reveal the conditions in which I arrived on Earth. Many of you know that I, I believe the term is ‘crash landed’ in the year 2011, but only very few know why I was here in the first place. On the day of my coronation as king, a couple of Frost Giants, for centuries my people’s sworn enemies, attacked. My father did not wish to retaliate for what was clearly the unauthorized act of those few that still resented Asgard. In my arrogance, I convinced my friends and even my brother to attack their home world.”

 

Jennifer blinked. _Oh dear, Thor please stick to what you told us._ She had no idea where he was going with this.

 

“I injured and killed many of their kin but, six Asgardian warriors, no matter how powerful, are no match for a planet full of Giants. In the end, I had to be rescued by my father and then, for my transgressions, my power was stripped from me and I was banned to Earth as a corrective measure, not only to teach me a lesson in humility but also to assuage the horrible tensions between the two realms. I invaded their home, I destroyed much, injured and killed many others and I still thought I was in the right. It was only after my time here on your planet that I came to realize my foolishness and, it wasn’t until then, that I realized the extension of the damage I caused, not only to the Jotunn but to my own home world. Because of my thoughtless actions, I could have easily sparked a war between the two worlds after so much blood was already drawn from both sides in the struggle for power, conquest and finally peace.

 

I once acted like the Captain did. Recklessly endangering not only the people that were in the path of my destruction, but also my own home with the threat of war and without any regard for those who would be left facing the consequences of my actions. The ones I killed due to my self-righteous ego probably had brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, wives and husbands to go back to and it wasn’t until too late that I thought about them as well. Nor did I think about the effort towards reconstruction on the Giants’ part or my kinsmen’s negotiations so another war wouldn’t happen.

 

I was once in Captain America’s place and it is with shame that I admit that my reasons were infinitely more selfish. He caused all these deaths and injuries because of a perceived threat to his friend while I just wanted revenge for my ruined day and to make certain that the Giants knew their place. Now I can only hope that he also learns that, no matter how well intentioned, how powerful and skilled, no one can do as they please, with no permission to engage in combat and no regard to those who will be affected.”

 

Her mouth dropped before she remembered herself. Jennifer couldn’t help but stare at him a little. Who would have thought? Was Thor even aware that he was playing these people and their sympathy like a fiddle? Or was it done completely obliviously? And the story of how he came to Earth at all…he came prepared to point out a correlation between him and Rogers and had done this by himself without telling anyone. No way Ms. Potts wouldn’t have mentioned something like this to her… actually (she almost scoffed) no way that Ms. Potts would have trusted a Captain America the Second to take the podium like that, redeemed or not. Too much was riding on finding the most effective way to communicate with the public.

 

“Anthony of the house of Stark is not perfect and I have heard many horrible things about him in the times I have visited Earth and yet, few times I have come across proof to verify these stories. I know an honorable warrior and an honorable person when I see one. For all his perceived slights, all the battles he has engaged in since becoming the warrior Iron Man was to help and to protect, many times at a risk to his own life.”

 

Jennifer bit her lip, trying not to grin like a lunatic. If Thor keep up in this path…

 

“Although not related to the matter at hand, I must say that I also deeply respect and admire his character for sparing James Buchanan, son of Barnes. He possesses a strength that I do not believe will ever be in my nature, for I lost my own mother three years ago, so I am familiar with this pain and the rage that follows. If he was the reason I would never again be able to see my mother’s smile or be in her presence, James Barnes would be dead.”

 

And…ok, now Jennifer froze. What. The. Hell? What the fucking hell? Ms. Potts was going to kill her.

 

“Anthony is my friend, however that alone would not suffice to have my support in such an act that put Avenger against Avenger. I came to see that we both fight for the same end, for people’s right to say ‘no’ to us and to people like us. I heard Captain America’s worries, so I read the new decree called the Sokovia Accords and the changes those who stayed behind are fighting to make and I am confused as to why Steve Rogers would oppose them so violently as to take is as far as attacking teammates. I, personally, agree with the Accords stipulations.

 

All my shield brothers and sisters who were once, or are still called, Avengers are too powerful for the common people, or even leaders, to physically bar us from their homes, so it has to be with words. If they don’t want us there, then we cannot invade their homes and transform it in a field of battle, a place where they are supposed to feel safe even if in danger. It is not up to us to decide that they need our help. I cannot promise to always come when called. I am the crown prince of Asgard and my home world is also under my protection. However, I can promise to comply if the leaders of a country say ‘no’ to my presence.

 

Anthony, son of Stark, and those who stood and are standing beside him have my full support.”

 

But Jennifer was still frozen.

 

“I know that your ways vastly differ from my own. The leader of Asgard must have absolute wisdom, for he is the only one the warriors answer to, the only one with the power to deploy them into danger. Beyond that, I have come to understand that the common people, who have no way to protect themselves in war, also need and have the right to be aware of what happens to, and in, their home. That is why I am in front of you today, explaining my actions. Thank you, for sparing your time to listen to my words when none of you owes me anything.”

 

He finished with a dashing smile.

 

Ms. Potts was going to kill her.

 

~*~

 

“YOU SHOULD HAVE TACKLED HIM TO THE GROUND!” Jennifer winced. Ms. Potts was usually so composed, so elegant… well, now she was red in the face, so red that her freckles weren't even visible. Her hair was in disarray and she was almost feverishly switching channels while religiously ignoring her phone, It hadn't stopped ringing since Thor had dropped the little ‘Bucky-Bomb’.

 

“Pepper” Colonel Rhodes tried but Pepper only shook her heard.

 

“Oh my god, what will Tony say? Thor basically just exposed one of the most horrifying moments of his life.” she moaned and leaned back into the couch, exhausted.

 

“Tony will understand, Pepper. It’s not like he doesn’t know that Thor is…Thor.” Rhodey tried.

 

“Look at this!” she gestured to the riot in front of the WWII museum where most of Captain America memorabilia was.

 

The entire country was divided in two: those who believed in what Thor said and those who didn’t. Each group was blocking the entrance of two separate buildings: Stark Tower and the  WWII museum. Pepper rubbed her temples. Could the situation get any worse?

 

“Boss-Lady? A priority call for you. King T’Challa of Wakanda.”

 

Yes, it could.

 


	20. No Care

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost didn't finish it today, but the thought that so many readers are liking so much and especially the fact that you guys all said a chap everyday is another thing to like... well, way to cheer up my muse!!
> 
> Edited since June, 19 by Fritti13 (you awesome you)

_18 days since Siberia._

_17 days since Steve Rogers broke the others out of the Raft._

_16 days since Tony Stark was retrieved from Siberia and has been in medical care._

_14 days since Extremis has been injected._

 

“Block all incoming calls, Friday.” Pepper asked as she got up and retied her hair. This was not the time. “But Boss-Lady, the kin…”

 

“ **All** incoming calls. I don’t care if he is a king, a prince or God of the world, he can wait.” Besides, Pepper thought viciously, the fact that four of them, plus Everett, already knew what the king was keeping in his palace could be enough to sue them with accessory charges. In the meantime, she would let Jennifer deal with Thor. If anything, because of Bruce, Jennifer had as much emotional stake in this as she did and, unlike Pepper, if Jennifer hit Thor…it would hurt…a lot.

 

~*~

 

“I don’t care!” Clint had had enough of the back and forth.

 

“Clint.” Cap’s calming tone just made him angrier.

 

“Shut up,” he whispered through gritted teeth, “and answer him, Cap.” He gestured to Sam with his head.

 

“There isn’t anything to talk about.” Steve was frustrated, a common feeling since all this mess had begun.

 

“Steve, man, you are talking about 3 people dead and a couple of dozen injured in Johannesburg in an incident that involved a crazy Hulk…and that…behemoth Iron Man. The deaths should have been in the hundreds. I don’t even know how Stark…did that.” he finished in a mumble. Sam couldn’t even wrap his head around it, “How did he do that? Fight the Hulk, protect the civilians? A half-constructed skyscraper and a few public buildings are all the damage to show for it?” he shook his head, “That’s not the point. This is the first time I ever heard that Wanda had anything to do with Johannesburg!”

 

Said woman ran to her room the second the tapes finished, tears in her eyes and pale-faced. Steve tried to call her back but Clint snarled at him and all Sam asked was why Steve had hidden it. Why all the original Avengers had originally hidden it, he could possibly understand. Clint’s reasoning made sense. Her brother died protecting him and a child, so in his head he owed it to Pietro to protect his sister. This was before finding out what she'd done to Stark and that was understandable. Clint had endured horrible experiences with mind control. Of course he wouldn’t take that well. Actually, Sam was pretty sure that the only reason Clint wasn’t more violent towards Wanda was a last ditch effort to honor her brother. The airman still didn’t agree with it. Brother or no brother, Wanda had still chased away a friend and a teammate. **Were** they even friends? Clint and Dr. Banner? Sam rubbed his neck.

 

“Look, Sam, I know that this all looks horrible but…she didn’t know what she was doing…”

 

“SHUT UP!” This time it was Scott who intervened, because he just couldn’t believe what had just come out of Captain America’s mouth. Ok, Cap’s fame was never in the intelligence department but still, and he couldn’t believe he'd just shouted at Captain America, but he hadn't graduated at the top of his class because he'd just bowed his head when he knew there was something wrong. “Are you kidding me? Do you honestly want to use **that** excuse?” Scott stared at Steve incredulously. But all Cap did was grit his teeth.

 

“It’s not an excuse. She's just a kid and she was confused. She thought she was doing good…”

 

“Oh for fuck’s sake! How could she not know what she was doing?” Scott snapped, “Are you really telling me that setting off the Hulk with his greatest fearswould've had any other results!?” he waved his hands at the TV which was still showing Iron Man and the Hulk fighting.

 

Steve winced, “She just made mistakes. We all did.”

 

“Cap, I don’t think you understand what is going on.” Sam shook his head at him. “Yes, I can get behind the argument that we’re not perfect, that we are human and we can mistakes, grave ones. But this… you need to listen, Cap. No one in the world will be able to turn a blind eye to her anymore. It doesn’t matter what she does, doesn’t matter what she plans to do, Wanda is…she has no way out.”

 

“Sam, Wanda is our teammate, our friend. We need to have each other’s backs, especially in a time like this.”

 

“IN A TIME LIKE THIS?!” Clint yelled and would have lunged if Sam hadn't held a hand up, his stern face barely enough to still Clint.

 

“Steve, stop talking and listen for five minutes.” Sam almost begged, “It doesn’t matter how much we fight for her, at this point nothing short of a miracle will keep Wanda from going to prison! The world knows about her involvement with HYDRA, and then Ultron. She triggered his creation and helped him afterwards. She became an Avenger and got an American visa while **hiding** her criminal past. Actually, you also hid her criminal past. That would've already been enough to revoke her citizenship, let alone a visa, and would have resulted in an extradition to Sokovia to face their law. But it wasn’t only Sokovia that took the brunt because of something she did, but also Johannesburg. No one in the world will believe that she had any other intentions, that she didn’t know what she was doing or that she's too young to be aware because Scott's right: what other results would there be for triggering the Hulk? I agree and I was there when Lagos happened and it wasn’t her fault. But she was **still** involved, she was there and used her powers and people died. Leipzig was…was messed up, but a man ended up a cripple and she was on the opposite side.”

 

Steve couldn’t breathe. Everything Sam said ringed true but Wanda was… she'd suffered enough, she'd done so much for all of them and had lost her brother doing the right thing. Didn’t she deserve a break? She didn’t deserve prison! He told them as much. Scott just gaped at him and Clint gritted his teeth.

 

“Steve, a friend of mine… he suffered severe PTSD after two stints in Iraq, almost 12 years serving. He risked his life to protect and fight for our country. He was still in the initial treatment, rehabilitating so he could go back to his family, live in society but he…he was still too raw. Something triggered him and he attacked a man. It was an accident and the guy only suffered a broken arm and a dislocated shoulder. My friend was traumatized by a flashback of the things he saw and did in battle…but he was still charged with assault by the man’s family and put on probation for 5 years because of what the jury perceived as negligence. He knew he was too jumpy, still plagued by his demons, but he wanted to surprise his wife. He'd just gone to the local market to get her some flowers when a guy put his hand in his pocket to get a lighter in the shape of a gun and that was it… we can argue that Wanda didn’t know that Ultron would happen when she went through Stark’s head but she very well knew what would happen if she did the same to the Hulk. As a result, three people died and 30 people were injured… it would take divine intervention for her to get off scot free…”

 

Before Steve could do much more than blanch, Scott was distracted by the TV.

 

“Isn’t that Thor?” There, indeed, Thor was; shaking hands with a man in his forties, the US representative to the U.N., if Scott remembered correcly.  Thor smiled and walked to the stand.

 

~*~

 

Jennifer took a deep breath.  Because of Thor’s impromptu revelation, no one knew what to talk about; the fact that Captain America’s bestie killed Iron Man’s parents, if they even believed it ,or that Thor was supporting the Accords, or that Johannesburg was that little witch-whore’s doing. She almost groaned, there was a reason they'd waited for the countries affected to pronounce themselves before revealing Maximoff’s little finger-waving in the Ultron situation. It was pertinent and the very first thing she did that killed so many at once. Jennifer scowled. No one actually knew what, exactly, Wanda did on HYDRA’s say so. Now, Johannesburg was in the middle of a three-way tug of war and Jennifer would be damned before she let something that affected Bruce so much get overlooked because the blonde behemoth didn’t know when to keep his trap shut.

 

Ms. Potts was right. She should have tackled Thor to the ground instead of just standing there gaping at him. Sighing again, Jennifer knocked softly on Thor’s door. His room at the Compound had never been used until 10 days ago when said demigod returned to Earth.

 

“Come in!”

 

She rolled her eyes. Perhaps it was an Asgardian thing to shout so much.

 

“Oh, hello, Lady Jennifer. I have been communicating with me fair Lady Jane. She insisted on knowing what has been going on.” He excitedly pointed to the phone in his massive hand and Jennifer could feel a little of her annoyance melting away. The man was so…child-like. “Very well, Jane. I shall wait.” He smiled again before throwing the phone to the other side of the room. The lawyer winced when it crashed and the only reason it didn’t break was because it was one of the StarkPhone Pro's. She had one, too, even if it wasn’t because of a tendency to throw her stuff around.

 

“Thor, I need to talk to you… may I sit?” She eyed the couch in front of the huge TV set, a standard for the Compound bedrooms.

 

“Yes, of course.”

 

“Thor…I need to explain a few things that perhaps you… didn’t notice.”

 

“Very well.”

 

“Ok… you see, the thing is…no one in the world knew that Tony’s parents…were murdered.” she watched as he frowned, confused.

 

“Both Iron Man and this Winter Soldier are very famous and... public figures, are they not?”

 

“Yes, they are.” Her shoulders drooped. She knew where he was going with this.

 

“Then, according to Lady Pepper, the people should be aware of their activities should they not? Particularly when it was such a despicable act that you call ‘illegal’…”

 

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “Yes, but Thor, what you have to understand is that… we'd planned to…give this information in a more…controlled manner. You see, between the world finding out about the wi- about Maximoff’s hand in Johannesburg, your support of the Accords and then about Tony’s parents being murdered by Captain America’s best friend, no one knows what to talk about. So do you see what the problem is?”

 

“I believe that…by giving the occurrences of such a magnitude at the same time, the three different matters…they don’t receive the focus they deserve individually.”

 

Jennifer blinked, well wasn’t the whole blond mountain of muscles looks deceiving?


	21. What Are You?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SIGHS!!!
> 
> Three minutes before midnight but I DID IT!
> 
> One chap per day, this is by far one of the longest because there was too much stuff I wanted to put here and I almost didn't manage to post it today, but HA!
> 
> Thank you all so much for the wonderful comments!
> 
> Edited since June, 19 2017 by Fritti13 :D

“I think he has a point.” Jennifer knew how much pressure and work was riding on Pepper’s shoulders so she understood that, these days, when Pepper yelled, it wasn’t because she was mad at you.

 

Jennifer at least could use her time to focus on Johannesburg and Lagos, the victims and people affected there. Ms. Van Dyne was almost finished with the people in Germany, Berlin and Leipzig. Ms. Potts was dealing with Bucharest, Sokovia and… what do you know, ex-SHIELD agents that weren’t lucky enough **not** be on missions when Rogers had the brilliant idea to dump all the files to the public, but lucky enough for SI and Iron Man to track and extract them before something worse happened. Not all of them were that lucky and Ms. Potts tracked every single member down to the last one.

 

Colonel Rhodes tried next, “Pepper, Thor was right in this, we try to manipulate how the information gets out too much and it can backfire on us. All it needs is a single person pointing out that, ‘hey, aren’t these people at SI doing this  a bit too chronologically?’ for the dam to break.”

 

The business woman sighed and rubbed her face, “Yes, ok, I’m sorry for yelling.”

 

“You don’t have to apologize. We all know how stressful this situation is and it will get a lot worse before it gets better.”

 

Pepper smiled at the cliché.

 

~*~

 

“Ok, everybody calm down!” Sam was getting a migraine. This and sighing seemed to be the new rule.

 

“What's this about Barnes?!” Clint keeps insisting.

 

“What about Johannesburg? Did you really think so little of the Hulk to invite Maximoff along?!” but Scott wasn’t letting go, a phrase that Jennifer Walters said kept banging around his head.

 

“…Steve Rogers had already vouched for her and, without consulting anyone else on the team, invited Wanda Maximoff to be part of the Avengers…”

 

“…I want the big one.” Scott shuddered; he'd helped that woman, and after she unleashed a mind-wrapped Hulk onto a city!

 

“Everybody shut up!” Sam had enough of this! “Let’s calm down.” he asked more calmly when he saw the he had the room’s attention. “Ok, let’s put this… chronologically. Steve already explained Sokovia to us. Wanda already explained Sokovia to us. Regardless,” he raised his voice when he Sam Scott and Clint ready to argue, “if we agree with it or not, we already got the explanation, so… Johannesburg, Scott, ask away.”

 

“Fine,” he snapped back only to adopt the same ‘therapist voice’ of Sam’s, “first things first: did you know that Dr. Banner’s transformation into the Hulk was because of Maximoff?” he turned to Steve.

 

“Scott, I know that…”

 

“It’s a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question.” Scott crossed his arms, his voice going eerily cold and for one second Steve was back at that Siberian base.

 

“Don’t bullshit me, Rogers, did you know?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Scott didn’t react like Tony, as if he was burned, shocked and betrayed, he just nodded and his features turned even colder. “Ok, next question. If you knew, and after watching that video, if every Avenger knew…why would you invite Maximoff to be an Avenger?” Scott hurried and raised his voice when Steve adopted his ‘stubborn face’. “I can understand Barton.” he gestured with his head toward the archer, who was scowling at Steve. “Her brother and all that, and I can understand why Stark covered it up.”

 

“Ms. Maximoff’s disdain for Dr. Stark is no news to Dr. Stark himself, and he always thought that it was because Ultron killed her brother. Dr. Stark felt guilty…” but that’s only because Stark didn’t know that Maximoff had a literal hand in Ultron, Scott sneered, because he didn’t even know that Maximoff targeted him specifically because she blamed him for her parents.

“But why did you? Or Black Widow?”

 

They watched as Steve opened and closed his mouth. “Because she helped us.”

 

Scott groaned.

 

“Listen to me.” Steve insisted, “She made mistakes, but Wanda recognized that they were mistakes and helped us. Since then, since becoming an Avenger, she fights the good fight, isn’t it worth something?”

 

“Did you listen to Sam? About that friend of his? He served 12 years, twelve **years** , in prison. He made a mistake under duress, where, and I cannot emphasize this enough, **nobody** died and was put on probation for five years! Maximoff makes a ‘mistake’, that she **knew** was a mistake, that killed three people and injured thirty more, and that's if we ignore Sokovia ,and then she's an Avenger with an American visa? She ‘helps’ people, never having to worry about money for food, clothes and housing because the guy she hides behind pays for all this for a whole year and that is all good and great and nobody can say ‘boo hoo’ about this because she ‘fights the good fight’? Whatever made you think that she wouldn’t go right back to HYDRA after Ultron was dealt with? Or that you could **trust** her, at all, after that?” Scott stared at Cap, not believing that for so many years he idolized this man.

 

“I took a chance on her, and Wanda didn’t let us down. she's a good girl.”

 

Scott laughed humorlessly, “‘Didn’t let us down’? ‘good girl’? Really?!”

 

“Yes!” This time Steve was more forceful. He could understand being angry, but he wouldn't stand for attacking Wanda like this.

 

“If she is that much of a good girl, then why did she hide her involvement in Ultron?” The engineer watched coldly as Cap struggled with an answer. “Forget it.” he waved his hand, knowing that there wouldn’t be a good answer any time soon. “Next question: what about th Hulk?”

 

Steve sighed, “Look, Bruce was gone and…”

 

“And that gives you a free pass to invite the person that tortured him into what should have been his **home**?”

 

“She didn’t torture him, she…”

 

“Actually, she tortured all of you. I… I am really not understanding this.” Scott rubbed his face.

_Every Avenger on the ground, eyes bright red._

 

“She didn’t tortured us!”

 

“Do you even know the definition of ‘torture’?” Scott demanded, “Ok, I get it. Dr. Banner was gone so why not invite her to be Avenger, right? What about his feelings on the matter or the people in Johannesburg? None of that is important because you know best, right?”

 

“It’s not like that, everybody deserves a second chance!”

 

“So murderers and rapists and thieves deserve a second chance too?” he was once again cold.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Agreed, but tell me…these second chance usually come **after** they've paid for their crimes, don't they?”

 

“Wanda already went through enough!”

 

“Such as what?”

 

“She grew up an orphan, she lost her brother, we are all she has left.”

 

“Oh for…have you ever watched CSI or Criminal Minds?” the change in subject made Steve pause.

 

“That… police series?”

 

“You know those kind of shows are based on real life? You can look it up, almost every single serial killer and rapist in history had some kind of horrible childhood, trauma that they never got over. Should they all wander around in society because of that?”

 

“It’s not the same thing.”

 

“How?”

 

“Because she is a kid and who knows what HYDRA told her to manipulate her…”

 

“Maximoff was 18 when she volunteered, more than old enough to know what was wrong and what was right. Today she's 26! That is not a child. No one in the world with enough sense will ever see her as a child!”

 

“We've talked in circles enough, anything else about Johannesburg?” Sam asked Scott when he saw that Steve had nothing else to add. The engineer shook his head, looking disgusted at Cap, “Fine, we talked about Johannesburg and the reasons for the… original Avengers doing what they did , about the aftermath and also about Sokovia. Clint?”

 

“Was what Thor said true? About Barnes killing Tony’s parents?”

 

“It wasn’t him! HYDRA was controlling him!”

 

“Cap… I don’t think you understand the concept of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions.” Clint assumed the same crossed arms stance as Scott’s.

 

“Yes, there was… a video.”

 

They all blinked at that. “What video?” Clint demanded.

 

Steve looked up, shocked and pale and stuttering.

 

“What video?” Sam repeated Clint’s question.

 

“In Siberia… in the HYDRA base, Zemo showed us a video…of the Winter Soldier killing Howard and Maria Stark.” All three men stared at him, gaping and not knowing what to say.

 

Sam finally mumbled, “That is why you guys fought”. It wasn’t a question but Steve nodded. Sam slumped on the couch behind him, “Oh my god.” he moaned.

 

Clint shook his head. “And why didn’t you tell Tony about the other Winter Soldiers?” His anger was back and Scott snapped his head up.

 

“You didn’t tell them?” Sam looked at Steve.

 

“You agreed that we shouldn’t tell Tony!”

 

“Steve, are you five?!”

 

“WHAT IS GOING ON?!” Scott eyed Sam and then Steve and finally Clint. “That's it! If I don’t get a straight answer in the next two minutes; someone is getting a black eye!”

 

Sam sighed, “After Berlin…”

 

“What happened in Berlin? Begin at the beginning!” This whole thing about explaining only the middle of the tale was making Scott’s vision go red.

 

“Steve, shut up, I'll talk now.” Sam turned to Scott and Clint, “Zemo bombed the UN building at Vienna and framed the Winter Soldier. By doing this, he ensured that every person in the world would be looking for him since Zemo knew that he wouldn’t be able to find him by himself. The anti-terrorist taskforce eventually found him and we ended up in Berlin. Zemo killed the psychiatrist sent by the U.N . He impersonated the shrink, then pretended to evaluate Barnes in order to trigger him. Steve managed to immobilize him and it was then that we learned about the other Winter Soldiers. Back in Berlin, Zemo asked Barnes about Siberia and Barnes told us that this was where the other Winter Soldiers were kept in cryo. Zemo told Cap that he wanted to ‘see an empire fall’ and, according to Barnes, with the other five Winter Soldiers, he could do just that.”

 

“We **both** decided not to tell Tony because we thought that he wouldn’t believe us or, even if he did, we thought the Accords would stop him from helping us. That’s when we decided to call you guys in, including Wanda. Scott,” he turned to the engineer, “the fact that you didn't know that Stark didn’t know about the other Winter Soldiers is on me, but the fact that Clint didn’t know is on you, Cap, and by proxy Wanda, too, I bet.”

 

Steve, Clint and Scott frowned.

 

“The U.N. didn’t send Zemo?” Steve questioned.

 

Sam looked at Steve with wide eyes. “Are you kidding me? Why would the U.N. do something like that?”

 

“They sent those men after Bucky! They were shooting at him left and right!”

 

This time Clint also gaped at Steve.

 

“The U.N. **can’t** send militaries anywhere, Steve.” Sam said it slowly, gauging Cap’s reaction.

 

“Well, they did it anyway. I knew we couldn’t trust organizations like them.” he grumbled under his breath.

 

“Steve,” Sam was almost grey, so pale he became, “the countries that participate in the U.N. can lend militaries for peacekeeping purposes only, meaning that they can protect civilians and maintain the status quo wherever they are sent but they can’t initiate combat. Actually, you can even tell when they're there on a U.N. mission because they wear light blue helmets. Those guys? In Bucharest? They weren’t U.N. personnel… they were a Romanian version of an Anti-Terrorist Taskforce. They had nothing to do with the U.N.”

 

Steve’s shocked expression was making Sam’s stomach fold in on itself. The last few days…were…confusing, not to mention disheartening. The idea he had of Captain America…yeah, so his fame was always being honorable and the ‘greatest tactician in history’, not the greatest strategist but…Steve accused Stark of holding Wanda prisoner in the Compound, never once thinking about the consequences of her leaving, for her or for Stark, and the relation to Lagos. Then he finds out about Wanda… so Steve didn’t know about Ultron but he did about Johannesburg? Second chances or not, he'd basically invited someone to live in a place that, for all intents and purposes, should have been a safe haven for the person she terrorized and chased away. And now Cape was accusing the U.N. of ordering a shoot on sight for someone?

 

Sam looked at Steve, really looked at Steve for the very first time, and considered everything he'd learned in the last couple of days, in the last couple of hours. Steve had just turned 31 this year. He'd had one week of formal training and then months of propaganda shows before he went AWOL to retrieve a single man. Instead, he'd ended up with hundreds of them and that was the only reason he hadn't been reprimanded for insubordination. Then 16 months of missions with a single unit followed by 70 years on ice. Then he fought aliens, then back to a single unit under SHIELD. Looking at him now; his arguments, his stance, He looked over at Clint and Scott, who seemed to be thinking in the same direction and Sam, for the first time ever, understood why Steve was so ready to take the responsibility and blame off of Wanda’s shoulders.

 

Sam had just turned 37. He'd served in the Air Force for almost 16 years before unofficially retiring. In comparison, in experience and even age, Steve was a kid to him. He glanced at Clint, pale faced and speechless. The guy was 42, had been on the scene since his late teens and working for SHIELD since his twenties. Then his eyes wandered to Scott, whose confusion and ignorance were steadily becoming anger and awareness, almost 40 but the one with least amount of experience.

 

A scrawny guy who picked way too many fights that weren’t even his with the pinnacle of bio-genetics in his veins. It was all the publicity from the USO tours, however, that made the world believe in the 'perfect soldier'. It wasn't the serum that allowed Steve to sway peoples opinions just because of who he is (Captain America) instead of what he did (16 months of experience before waking up in the 21st century). Take away the propaganda and what was he?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because POETIC JUSTICE!!! That's why!
> 
>  
> 
> Also, a reader asked me about Laura. So sorry I didn't answer in the comment (^^) srly SOOOORRY!!
> 
>  
> 
> Anyways, the actress I have in my head is Linda Cardellini but blonde. I have loved her since E. R. (I am pretty sure that only those older than 20 will know what I am talking about, oh god I'm getting old T.T)
> 
> Edited since June, 19 2017 by Fritti13!!


	22. Enter the New

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- 24 hours after Siberia – Rogers breaks the others out of the Raft.  
> \- 2 days after Siberia – Tony Stark is retrieved by Air Force personell led by Colonel Carol Danvers.  
> \- 4 days after Siberia – Extremis is injected.  
> \- 12 days after Siberia – Shuri calls Jennifer.  
> \- 14 days after Siberia – Shuri asks for help. Nigeria, Romania and Germany declare ‘TeamCaptain America’ and Sharon and Natasha criminals. Two hours later Pepper leaks the video about Wanda’s involvement in Ultron and Maria Hill gives her press conference three hours after that. Clint and Scott get their first shock. T’Challa and Scott talk. Sam confronts Steve about Wanda and explains about Tony’s decision and Vision agreeing to Wanda staying in the Compound. Scott and Clint talk about Steve.  
> \- 16 days after Siberia – Maximoff is officially stateless. Sokovia and Johannesburg become allies.  
> \- 17 days after Siberia – Sam, Steve, Clint and Scott confront Wanda about Ultron. The tapes about Johannesburg are released. Hours after, Jennifer gives statements.  
> \- 18 days after Siberia – Thor’s expresses his support of the Accords and reveals about Howard and Maria Stark’s assassination. Team Captain America sans Wanda discusses Sokovia, Johannesburg and what Steve didn’t tell them. Sam comes to the realization that he believed and knew more about the propaganda than the man.  
> \- 19 days after Siberia…

“Oh,” Jennifer stopped at the door and looked at her wristwatch, “am I early?”

 

“Oh, no, Ms. Walters. Ms. Potts sent me to tell you that she will be unable to attend. She is preparing Ms. Hill for a press conference in a few hours.” Vision got up from his seat at the long table. The meeting room was otherwise empty.

 

“I… didn’t know about that.” she frowned at her StarkPhone, searching today’s schedule.

 

“It was not programed, but after the Dr. Stark’s parents cause of death was revealed, Ms. Potts thought it was best if we addressed it as fast as possible.”

 

“Makes sense.” she shrugged and then paused. Vision was not even looking at her anymore and, even if his entire existence still didn’t compute in her head, (like what kind of thing **was** he?) Jennifer couldn’t help but recognize the feeling in his features: he was sad. Since this whole mess began, Jennifer saw Ms. Potts and Colonel Rhodes going from horrified to angry to resolute. She saw Dr. van Dyne unsure and angry and now determined. She saw her cousin almost frozen with remorse and guilt but still working tirelessly so his friend would be OK. But, admittedly, so far Vision was the only one that she actually saw feeling sad. She bit her lip, not sure if her nosing around would be welcome but… they were a team, at least and… teammates help each other, do they not?

 

“Vision? I won’t ask if you’re ‘OK’ because that’s stupid but… is there anything I can do? Perhaps just lend an ear to listen?” Vision blinked at her and Jennifer was taken back just how… human he was.

 

“Yes, I am familiar with the process of putting your feelings and thoughts into words so you can understand yourself.” Jennifer would have smiled at that if it wasn’t for how deflated he looked.

 

“So…?” she prompted, taking a seat right beside him.

 

“I am…unsure of how I feel…and how I **should** feel in the situation I find myself. I know what is right. Laws exists for a reason and yet, because of our common experience, I find myself divided between duty and emotion and it only results in being unable, or perhaps unwillingly, to do anything.”

 

She frowned, “I didn’t know you were so close to the others…”

 

“Not all of them, perhaps.” he corrected looking a little sheepish and Jennifer blinked, remembering the tapes from the airport... OH!

 

“You and… Maximoff?” Usually she had problems just saying the name instead of substituting it with all the curse words in her head, but the shock actually stilled her disgust for now.

 

“It used to be a possibility, or at least, I hoped so.”

 

“And now… you…”

 

“I was unaware of the fact that it was her who caused Ultron and Johannesburg. I found myself disappointed and in distress because of her reactions following the events of Lagos, her inaction in apologizing, in not doing what she could for those that were wounded, for not standing up and owning her actions, mistakes or not, and also for her actions preceding the confrontation at Leipzig. I believed that I was her friend, if nothing else, and I never have been violent or untrue with her but she was still perfectly willing to hurt me. She... she didn’t even hesitate.”

 

Jennifer could only wince. Having a… crush… on someone and then… she also saw the security tape. It was brutal. Vision stared at the floor.

 

“Now I find that her actions, past and present, are contradicting the image I had of her and perhaps…the woman I had in my head was not the real Wanda.” He met her eyes and Jennifer could feel her own widening. At a distance you couldn’t see it, but his eyes were a very human blue. The iris and the pupil, however, could never be called human. They looked cybernetic; the pupils too wide and the iris not kaleidoscopic in design but containing straight lines. They really resembled…the Arc Reactor.

 

~*~

 

Wanda cried herself to sleep. The next day she tried to venture to the communal kitchen where she knew the others were. Sam was preparing coffee as Scott talked to him quietly. Steve was probably visiting Bucky and Clint was nowhere to be seen.

 

“Morning.” she greeted meekly but Sam and Scott only glanced up and nodded at her before getting back to their quiet conversation.

 

~*~

 

Shuri stilled herself. She couldn’t deny her brother’s shortcomings and Ms. Potts and Colonel Rhodes’ solution would actually help both: her country and her brother. Now all she needed to do was face her own punishment. What she'd done was treason of the highest caliber and she would face the consequences with her back straight, knowing that she deserved it and her head bowed, showing her willingness to see her punishment through.

 

~*~

 

“Friday managed to hack the Siberian base. She has the tapes. After that, questions will begin and you'll be up.” Pepper turned to Maria, who only nodded.

 

~*~

 

The change was much more amazing on the inside.  After all, on the outside, he was still deceivingly only human.

 

**Initiating New Program.**

**...**

**Analyzing Status: Firewalls Damaged. Physical Integrity Compromised.**

**...**

**Analyzing Damage…30%...80%... Complete.**

**...**

**Repairing Damage: Damage Repaired.**

**...**

**Time Offline: 19 days.**

**...**

**Time to Initialization of New Program: 15 days**

**...**

**New Program: Accepted.**

**...**

**New Parameters: Approved.**

**...**

**Running System Diagnostic.**

**...**

**Diagnostic Complete.**

**...**

**Host Status: 100% operational.**

**...**

**Approved for Initialization.**

**...**

**Initializing.**

**...**

**30%**

**...**

**60%**

**...**

**73%**

**...**

**90%**

**...**

**100%**

**...**

**Systems Online**.

…

 

Tony opened his eyes.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A friend of mine said that it was hard to keep up the timeline. Also a reader commented that he/she didn't know how long it's been since Siberia... so it will be used as my point of reference.
> 
> I will post it together with the chaps...
> 
> Fritti13 edition ince June, 19 2017 ;D


	23. Down Memory Lane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER WAS REVISED AND POSTED AS CHAPTER 24. PLEASE ADVANCE TO THAT CHAPTER.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10 hours after Siberia – Bucky goes to cryo.
> 
> 24 hours after Siberia – Rogers breaks the others out of the Raft.
> 
> 2 days after Siberia – Tony Stark is retrieved by the Air Force led by Colonel Carol Danvers.
> 
> 4 days after Siberia – Extremis is injected.
> 
> 12 days after Siberia – Shuri calls Jennifer.
> 
> 14 days after Siberia – Shuri asks for help, Nigeria, Romania and German declare ‘Team Captain America’ and Sharon and Natasha criminals. Two hours later Pepper leaks the video about Wanda’s involvement in Ultron and Maria Hill gives her press conference three hours after that. Clint and Scott get their first shock. T’Challa and Scott talk. Sam confronts Steve about Wanda and explain about Tony’s decision and Vision agreeing to Wanda staying in the Compound. Scott and Clint talk about Steve.
> 
> 16 days after Siberia – Maximoff is officially stateless. Sokovia and Johannesburg become allies.
> 
> 17 days after Siberia – Sam, Steve, Clint and Scott confront Wanda about Ultron. The tapes about Johannesburg are released. Hours after, Jennifer gives statements.
> 
> 18 days after Siberia – Thor’s expresses his support of the Accords and reveals about Howard and Maria Stark’s assassination. Team Captain America sans Wanda discusses Sokovia, Johannesburg and what Steve didn’t tell them. Sam comes to the realization that he believed and knew more about the propaganda than the man.
> 
> 19 days after Siberia - Tony wakes up.
> 
> 20 days after Siberia...

“Please Dr. Stark try to calm down” the nurses all around the room tried to contain the engineer to no avail. And no one could even touch him, his skin glowed gold like a suntan but clearly unnatural, there were lines all around his body but it didn’t look like tattoos, they were thin and clean cut but raised in his skin like scars, theirs shapes actually were the same as the Iron Man suit’s plates, even his face, the transversal lines in the contour of his face and the mark on his mouth but it did nothing to hid his distress.

His eyes glowed blue like the eyes of Iron Man as he trashed and convulsed, they couldn’t even restrain him, his skin was hot, too hot to the touch, it was even beginning to leave burn marks in the sheets, and he just kept yelling, “IT IS IN MY HEAD! MAKE IT STOP! THEY ARE SCREAMING!”

“Make what stop? Please Dr. Stark!” the closest nurse almost begged.

As the trashing continued and worsened the intern that was gaping at the door not knowing what to do was the first to notice. All the media equipment, even the TV were… shaking? And then they began to glow, the same yellow/golden hue that Dr. Stark was emitting, they shook and rose in the air and he could get out of his mouth was, “WATCH OUT!” before they flew all around the room, the nurses managed to dodge them but inches.

The nurses and the unfortunate intern almost cried in relief when Dr. Banner’s voice sounded in the hallway, “What is going on?”

“Please, Dr. Banner, hurry” the intern almost dragged the physicist inside, “Oh, my God, Tony!”

“THEY DON’T STOP! IN MY HEAD! THEY ARE INSIDE **_MY HEAD_**!”

They almost cried again when Dr. Banner hurried out but perked up when he called, “PROFESSOR XAVIER!”

“On it” a calm voice that sounded everywhere at once and whose owner was nowhere to be seen reverbed in the room and Tony suddenly slacked back like a puppet whose strings were cut, all the tech in the room stopped shaking and fell much in the same way. The lines in his body becoming thinner until they disappeared in what looked like submerging into his skin that turned pale again, his eyes turned back to the normal chocolate tone and snapped shut.

For a couple of minutes there was silence in the room no one doing anything but standing there frozen in the position they were already in, distantly they could hear Professor Xavier and Dr. McCoy hurrying closer until Dr. Banner scowled, exasperated, “I want to see him calling **_this_** a terrible privilege now”

~*~

Maria watched as people reacted to the newest tape, Ms. Potts was right that they couldn’t just ignore it or let the public think it was just Thor blabbing about things he didn’t understand, what was done was done and now they had to take advantage of what they had.

And that includes the tape Zemo showed Barnes, Rogers and Tony. Pepper would never break Tony’s trust showing…the other one, the security tape that exposed to the world how vulnerable Tony was for those few minutes, betrayed with his heart torn open. She shuddered, how could Captain America do something like that? After all these time, Maria knew that heroes had feet of clay, it is almost a disservice putting them on pedestals but still, she thought she knew Rogers.

In 2012 when the Avengers got out of paper, Maria was skeptical. The whole thing began with Captain America , she snorted, of course it did, SHIELD itself was funded by the guy’s first trainer and CO, the love of his life and his first ‘tech guy’, actually if it wasn’t for Howard Stark, SHIELD would have never been more than just an idea, after all, good ideals or not, they had just gotten out of a war, WWII at that, the government didn’t have money to finance such a thing. Either way, when Fury came up with the Avengers Initiative, he based that on the fact that even though the serum that made Captain America possible was out of their reach, Hank Pym turned himself and his wife into what would be eventually called ‘Enhanced’.

And the idea was born: a group of extraordinary people that would fight battles that no one else could. Hill wasn’t sure what to think about the idea, in theory, it sounded a lot like a specialized taskforce, a little idealized sure, but in practice?

They had Captain America, the ‘first Avenger’, the world’s first Enhanced. His deeds were stunningly impressive sure but over time, Maria realized just how little technical training he actually had. He showed for debriefings post and pre-missions but he seemed to think that it was the logistic that existed. She had to constantly remember that the guy was used to how things are done in the middle of an actual war where soldiers just didn’t have time or even mind to go through all the actual process.

Then their two most skilled yet wildest cards: Clint Barton and Natalia Romanova. Both with a bloody past, both trying to redeem themselves and yet Maria knew that they followed orders on their own ways but since they got the job done, they were left alone and perhaps this was a mistake.

Thor and Hulk were like Natalia and Clint times a thousand. Wild cards, one wasn’t even here one third of the time and the other wanted to be here but in the first sign of trouble he had took off, Tony was right on this much: Hulk knew who were the enemies and who were his friends so when he showed up, he actually fought what needed to be fought, in a way, Maria was relieved with this, no one actually expected either of them to follow the usual proceedings, Thor because he didn’t even understand that people just didn’t throw mugs on the ground because they ‘like it so much’ and Bruce because…no one had the guts to tell that to his face.

And finally Tony himself. When he revealed to the world that he was Iron Man, Hill only sighed and cursed because of all the work she would have after that. Tony Stark was infamous for many things, not unlike Romanova and Barton, he gets things done but they he did them was…and not much unlike most of his other relationships, she was sure, their first meeting was far from flattering. He was helpful in the most obnoxious way he could think of but if she had to be honest…for her, this little team seemed like the recipe for disaster.

_“Since when you are an expert on thermonuclear astrophysics?”_

_“Last night”_ at that time all she could was blink and stay in stunned silent for the rest of it.

Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist…people are so used to seeing him in the media because of  the last three that they completely forget about the first one and it wasn’t until she began to work directly for the man that Hill realized that he does that on purpose. _Hey look while sleep with all these models, actress and whoever I want to, lower your guard around me! Just because I don’t think you are important, doesn’t mean that I am not listening, try to pass a fast one on me, you will find yourself tied up on your own scheme before you can even open your mouth._ Since then she amused herself just watching him work, he earned the fact that she calls him ‘boss’.

And yet with every single successful mission, the tension on her shoulders lessened, when SHIELD fell and Stark hired to specifically to do what she was already doing, she was surprised but not shocked, of course that he would be the one to see that regardless of whatever else SHIELD might have done, the Avengers wouldn’t be able to go on without the work that SHIELD did. Alongside her was another two hundred SHIELD agents that passed their screening.

Tony Stark earned being called ‘boss’ but he also earned all their respect too, he didn’t do it just because of the Avengers, it didn’t pass through her head that he did it because of Iron Man, he was operating independently for years without their help, he did it because they needed it, Hill wasn’t an idiot, she realized the pattern, after they fine combed every single one of them, he chose first those that had nothing else besides SHIELD to survive on, whose entire career was because of SHIELD. Who would hire them after Rogers sunk the entire thing as if all of them were HYDRA instead of just a percentage? It would be tantamount as hiring an ex-con and it would have been a shame that after all their training, all their credentials acquired through sweat and effort and be unable to exercise their jobs because no one would trust them?

After Sokovia…to be more specific…after Ultron…she didn’t know what to think. First she was confused, Stark has been building AIs since he was 17, after decades in the field none of them ever turned on humanity and he also had already worked in the scepter… so what went wrong? Before she could make any of those questions, Thor strode through the room and grabbed him by the throat, Maria was ready to unlock her gun if she wasn’t so confident that the other Avengers would do something about it…they didn’t, Rogers just asked that Thor make a report.

Maria, Rhodey and Dr. Cho talked extensively about that night. Dr. Cho was the most shaken, Maria knew about her, not so subtle, crush on Thor and much like Vision nowadays, her looks was one of broken heart.

_“Much like most people…I had an…idealized image of the Avengers…of this group…Thor grabbed a Non-Enhanced man by his throat, without making a single question…and Captain America did nothing, he just stood there” she hugged herself but didn’t seem like would appreciate a physical form of comfort, which was good since neither Maria or Rhodes would know what do if she did. They were just having coffee in the Avengers Tower cafeteria, almost no one went there, especially since there was better coffee and food in other levels of the tower since Tony turned five floors into basically a mall._

_Rhodes took a deep breath, like Maria, he didn’t move because he honestly thought that the other Avengers wouldn’t stand for something like that, for a teammate to attack a weaker one like that. It was then that he began to question if he hasn’t always been deluded._

_“Logically, we can say that the tension was high and Thor has never been one for ‘words before actions’” her voices was cold but it would be enough to look at Maria’s face to see how much that affected her._

_Helen shook her head still hugging herself a little, “Maybe” she mumbled and not meeting their eyes her lips twisted unhappily, “but this was the first time that I actually feared them” she looked up and Rhodes and Maria were surprised by how scared she looked, “I…I agreed to work for SI in part because of the Avengers. I believed in them but…one of them attacked a defenseless man that they deemed ‘guilty’, without even asking if that was the case or not, and even if Dr. Stark_ **was** _guilty of irresponsibility if nothing else, does that give them the right to attack him like that? And none of the others did anything to stop Thor” she shuddered and averted her eyes back to the table._

_Nor Rhodes or Maria could deny it and they could understand why Helen was so scared. Much like Stark out of his armor, Helen couldn’t defend herself from any of the Avengers and if one of them acted harshly like this again and the others were unwilling to stop him or her…what would happen then?_

“Ms. Hill? You’re up” one the assistants called and Maria thanked her, show time.

~*~

They watched numbly as the car was shot in the tires and folded into that tree, Howard Stark weakly crawled out of the car, bleeding but still struggling.

_“My wife…help my wife”_

_“Howard?”_

_“Sargent Barnes?”_

_“Howard!” Maria tried to scream but her vision blurred she could barely…and then she didn’t want to look at all but this was Howard, “Howard”_

_And then she couldn’t speak around the hand in her throat._

Scott run out of the room, his face pale, sweating and turning greener by the second. Sam closed his eyes and Clint couldn’t stop looking. Wanda was biting her lip, not knowing what to do and Steve just let his head fall back towards the wall, exhausted.

~*~

“Mm” the telepath touched Tony’s head again, leaned back and stared at him.

“So?” Rhodey prompted.

“Well… the blood exam came back… within the parameters that we predicted when we decided on using the Extremis. Now due to the… abnormal circumstances, his nervous system is something that I have never seem before” Professor Xavier was still staring at Tony and Rhodey could feel the hairs at the back of his neck rising.

“Meaning?” he tried not to grit out, he wanted answer dammit, so he could pass them on to Pepper that, just a minor detail, still didn’t know about this mess.

“Dr. Richards and I…”

“Reed Richards? As in… Fantastic Four, Reed Richards?” Rhodey turned his incredulous eyes toward the telepath that had the good grace to look a little sheepish.

“They…they are…not as…aside from Mr. Grim and his brother in law, Tony is probably the closest thing to a friend that Dr. Richards have”

The media has this idea that everybody with IQ approaching 250 had this insane rivalry going on and while that was true to a certain extent, they also meet one another if only for the sake to be around people that could actually understand when they went through one of their ‘techno-babble’. Rhodey snorted, even if Tony cursed Richards every other month, he had to admit that Tony was probably the only other scientist in the world that could do both: keep up with him intellectually and actually force a socially normal answer out of Richards, so perhaps that was the definition that Richards had of ‘friend’ but to be fair, Tony’s definition of ‘friend’ was probably somewhere along those lines too.

“I’m sorry, you were saying about Richards and you…” he shook his head, he could wrangle and answer out of Tony when he was back on his feet.

“Well… there were a couple of times that we met, and in one such an occasion, Tony came up, Richards mentioned that he was the one to convince Tony to play a game of chess with him”

“Oh God” the Colonel groaned, “And…?”

Xavier smiled a little in amusement at him before continuing, “Tony didn’t know how to play, he spent more or less an hour on the internet, Reed confided that he could barely keep up in what in the world Tony was trying to do, he had multiple widows opened at the same time and kept switching them seemly at random. Then he got back and told Reed to set the board but in his own words, ‘to make things more interesting, why not play with five boards at the same time?’

He sighed, “And let me guess…” Rhodey smiled despite himself. Of course Tony would do something like this on his first time doing anything.

“He put Reed in check simultaneously in all five board and left with a smirk on his face” the professor laughed himself silly accompanied a few second later by Rhodey that lost his war against it.

“But what does that have to with…the…whatever happened here” he gestured towards his knocked out friend.

“Well, his brain obviously was the topic of discussion between me and Reed and he commented on something that I never thought on this specific term before” Xavier looked surprised and impressed, “He called Tony ‘the greatest multitasker in the world’”

Rhodey had to smile at that, he also never thought of it like that but Richards was right, the way Tony could do so many things at the same time and giving all of them his focus was something else.

“In that subject I brought something up that I have to eventually apologize to Tony even if I doubt that he would mind. You see, we were both a little…drunk” he admitted with a blush and Rhodey could feel his jaw falling.

He couldn’t picture it, neither of them drunk, Richards was a workaholic that could give Tony a run for his money, he probably doesn’t even consider drinking as in something that existed in his Wonderland, so far down the rabbit hole he gets whenever he was on a binge, not very unlike Tony actually, those two, Rhodey rolled his eyes, and Professor Xavier? Trying to picture him drunk was the same as…whatever, Voldemort admitting that really liked sunflowers.

“Ah…yeah…?” he stared wide eyed at the telepath, still blushing mind you, who chuckled a little at his face…or perhaps he just got what Rhodey just pictured, but he was still a little too in shock to be embarrassed about it.

“Well…so I am one of the very few that Tony trusts with… medical procedures, so he asked me to make an electroencephalogram and…”

“Wow, wow, wow, Doc, a what now?”

“A…brain exam. And I have to say: his brain activity is something that I can barely grasp. Reed was right, Tony **_is_** the greatest multitasker in the world but what Reed doesn’t…er…didn’t know” he looked apologetic at Rhodey but he only shrugged, he was a little uncomfortable with it but he knew that Tony wouldn’t mind so much…or at all, “Is the reason for it. You see, because of my… extra gift, I can see how his mind work and the exam only gave it a scientific image. Tony can think in innumerous subjects at the same time at any given moment, he could be talking to you about War Machine in all details and he could also be thinking about SI’s next project, the balance of his stocks, his next date and where to take her…or him” they coughed a little in amusement, “and he could also be thinking about the upgrades he wants to make on his car, his real mental talent is that he can literally, consciously choose how much focus he wants to give every subject. It is actually… amazing to be in his head when he is like his”

Rhodey could feel the amazement in his own face but in retrospect…yeah, he could see those signs, he always knew that Tony was someone special, he met him when the guy was 14, barely showing to his classes and still ruining the curve for everybody else. He smiled a little sadly, he knew that unless he suddenly had Xavier’s abilities he would never be able fully grasp just how impressive his friend’s brain truly was.

“Ok…and now?” back at the subject, they deviated from it enough even if conversation was far from disinteresting.

“Well…now the Extremis seemed to take that to a whole new level” and he went back to staring at Tony, “His mind is like a computer” he whispered, amazement back to coloring his voice, “and like any computer, it can control remotely…the closest classification I give Tony right now is… **_technopath_** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am unhappy with this chap (like really unhappy) so for now I will take a leave if absence until I can re-right this. No worries, the updates will resume once I untangle this mess of a chap. Thank you all for the support and understanding.


	24. Down Memory Lane (Re-Writen)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited since June, 19 by Fritti13 ^^

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special thanks to linxoo7, Andria and mitkit99.
> 
> I have to admit that linxoo7 (thank you) made me feel enabled to slow down a little. I do this for fun and to be honest it hasn't been fun in the last couple of days, I was so eager and so determinated to do one chap per day that it became a job with a deadline and it WAS dragging the quality down, I can admit it freely, so I re-wrote the last chap with a clearer head.
> 
> Yesterday I was with a serious headache and I finished the chap close to midnight so out of it because I was tired and I wanted to go to bed, but I was so set in the whole schedule thing that it ended up with yesterday's mess.
> 
> Andria on the other hand made me see that I wasn't alone, that people liked what I was doing and they were having fun with it. Just because a single chap wasn't all that great didn't mean that I couldn't do better. So thank you, from now on I will be trying to have as much as fun writing as you guys have while reading it.
> 
> mitkit99 made me see that I wasn't writing in a way that made my ideas go throgh people. I mean, I made a point of writing about it for three chaps but if someone is still confused about the tapes, it's not because of the reader, it is because I am not writing it in a way that makes sense. So thanks!
> 
> To all of you that regularly comment in my fic, I re-wrote the last chap with more time to think and connect my ideas, I would love to know what you guys think!
> 
> Now for all those that honestly hope for one chap per day, if the last one is any indication, I think I would rather update every time I feel personally satisfied with my work than just every time I finish writing the chap. So...this will be my new policy, thank you all for the amazing support!
> 
> PS-Once again, this is the LAST CHAP the way I wanted it to be instead of the ideas I wanted to express put online in the second I finished, so if you're not interested in reading the same ideas, you can just ignore it.

“Please, Dr. Stark, try to calm down.”

 

The nurses all around the room tried to contain the engineer to no avail. No one could even touch him. His skin glowed gold like a suntan but was clearly unnatural. There were lines all around his body but they didn’t look like tattoos. They were thin and clean cut but raised on his skin, like scars. Their shapes actually resembled almost perfectly the Iron Man suit’s plates, even the transversal lines on the contour of his face and the mark on his mouth, but it did nothing to hide his distress.

 

His eyes glowed blue, like the eyes of the Iron Man suit, as he thrashed and convulsed. They couldn’t even restrain him. His skin was hot, too hot to the touch. It was even beginning to leave burn marks on the sheets, and he just kept howling, “IT IS IN MY HEAD! MAKE IT STOP! THEY ARE SCREAMING!”

 

“Make what stop? Please Dr. Stark!” the closest nurse almost begged.

 

As the thrashing continued and worsened, the intern who was gaping at the door was the first to notice. All the medical equipment, even the TV were… shaking? And then they began to glow, the same yellow/golden hue that Dr. Stark was emitting. They shook and rose in the air and  all the intern could get out of his mouth was, “WATCH OUT!” before the instruments flew all around the room. The nurses managed to dodge them by only inches.

 

The nurses and the unfortunate intern almost cried in relief when Dr. Banner’s voice sounded in the hallway, “What is going on?”

 

“Please, Dr. Banner, hurry!” The intern almost dragged the physicist inside. 

 

“Oh, my God, Tony!” Bruce exclaimed

 

 

“THEY DON’T STOP! IN MY HEAD! THEY ARE INSIDE **MY HEAD**!”

 

The staff  looked about nervously when Dr. Banner hurried out again but perked up when he called out, “PROFESSOR XAVIER!”

 

“On it.” A calm voice reverberated from everywhere at once from someone unseen. Tony suddenly slumped like a puppet whose strings had been cut as all the tech in the room stopped shaking and fell in much the same way. The lines on Tony's body became thinner and thinner until they faded and submerged into pale skin once again. His eyes turned back to their normal chocolate shade and snapped shut.

 

For a couple of moments there was silence in the room, everyone standing frozen in position. Distantly they could hear Professor Xavier and Dr. McCoy swiftly approaching until Dr. Banner scowled and exclaimed in an exasperated tone, “I want to see him calling **this** a terrible privilege now!”

 

~*~

 

Maria watched as people reacted to the newest tape. They had three in their possession. The first, taped by the Iron Man’s armor, showed Tony’s perspective and it was…no, Ms. Potts would never show that one. Neither would she show the second tape, the security tapes from the Siberian base showing everything in third person view; how Cap, Bucky and Tony arrived there, how Zemo was gleefully happy with their presence, how he showed them something that made all three fight. What was shouted and the way the fight proceeded already gave away enough hints as to what they had watched: Iron Man’s parents being murdered by the Winter Soldier.

 

She never believed in that ‘devil may care’ attitude of Tony’s, if only because of all the time they spent working together. And…the pain, vulnerability, the raw betrayal on his features that moment on tape was something that she would never forget. Iron Man, Tony Stark…was human after all, and people tended to forget that. Ms. Potts would never expose Tony like that during the most horrifying moment of his life, especially his reaction. Never. Maria balled her hands into fists…thinking about how Captain America **knew** about it and hid it from Iron Man.

 

The final tape was the one Zemo showed Barnes, Rogers and Tony that made an ‘empire crumble from within’. They had no choice but to show this one, they had to anyways since it was an unreported crime. Thor had just accelerated things: Howard and Maria Stark had been assassinated. She shuddered. How could Captain America do something like that? After all this time, Maria knew that heroes had feet of clay. It was almost a disservice putting them on pedestals but, still, she thought she knew Rogers.

 

In 2012 when the Avengers came out to the world, Maria was skeptical. The whole thing began with Captain America (she snorted, because, of course it did). SHIELD, itself, was funded by the Cap's first trainer and CO, (who was the love of his life) and his first ‘tech guy’. Actually, if it wasn’t for Howard Stark, SHIELD would have never been more than just an idea. After all, good ideals or not, they had just gotten out of a war, WWII at that, and the government didn’t have money to finance such a thing. Either way, when Fury came up with the Avengers Initiative, he based it on the fact that even though the serum that made Captain America possible was out of their reach for now, Hank Pym turned himself and his wife into what would be eventually called ‘Enhanced’.

 

The idea was born then: a group of extraordinary people that would fight battles that no one else could. Hill wasn’t sure what to think about the idea. In theory, it sounded a lot like a specialized taskforce, a little idealized sure, but in practice?

 

They had Captain America, the ‘first Avenger’, the world’s first Enhanced. His deeds were stunningly impressive, sure, but over time Maria realized just how little technical training he actually had. He'd shown up for debriefings post and pre-missions but seemed to think that it was all the logistics that existed. She had to constantly remind herself that the guy was used to how things were done in the middle of an actual war, where soldiers just didn’t have time or even the luxery to think things through in the middle of battle.

 

Then their two most skilled, yet wildest cards: Clint Barton and Natalia Romanova. Both had a bloody past, both were trying to redeem themselves and, yet, Maria knew that they followed orders in their own way but, since they got the job done, they were left alone. Perhaps that was a mistake.

 

Thor and Hulk were like Natalia and Clint times a thousand. Wild cards. One wasn’t even here a third of the time and the other one wanted to be here but, at the first sign of trouble, he'd taken off.Tony was right on this much: Hulk knew who the enemies were and who his friends were so, when he showed up, he actually fought the bad guys. Maria was relieved with how things had turned out. No one had actually expected either of those two to follow the usual procedures; Thor because he didn’t even understand that people just didn’t throw mugs on the ground because they ‘like the beverage so much’, and Bruce because…no one had the guts to make him sit through endless meetings and write long reports lest he turned a little green in annoyance.

 

And, finally, Tony himself. When he'd revealed to the world that he was Iron Man, Hill only sighed and cursed because of all the work she would have after that. Tony Stark was infamous for many things. Not unlike Romanova and Barton, he got things done, but the way he did them was…and not much unlike most of his other relationships, she was sure, their first meeting was far from flattering. He was helpful in the most obnoxious way he could think of. To be honest, this little team seemed like a recipe for disaster.

 

“ _Since when are you an expert on thermonuclear astrophysics?”_

_“Last night.”_

 

At that time. all she could do was blink and stand in stunned silence for the rest of it.

 

Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist…people were so used to seeing him in the media because of the last three that they completely forgot about the first one. It wasn’t until she began to work directly for the man that Hill realized that he did that on purpose. _'Hey, look while I sleep with all these models, actresses and whoever else I want to. Look while I drown myself in alcohol. Lower your guard around me! Just because I don’t think you are important, doesn’t mean that I'm not listening. Try to put a fast one over on me and you will find yourself hoisted by your own petard before you can even open your mouth.'_ Since then she'd amused herself and felt impressed just watching him work. He'd earned the designation of genius.

 

With every single successful mission, the tension on her shoulders had lessened. When SHIELD fell and Stark hired her to specifically to do what she was already doing, she was surprised, but not shocked. Of course he would be the one to see that, regardless of whatever else SHIELD might have done and enabled, the Avengers wouldn’t be able to go on without the work that SHIELD did. Alongside her was another two hundred SHIELD agents that passed their screening.

 

He didn’t do it just because of the Avengers, it didn’t even pass through her head that he did it because of Iron Man. Stark had been operating independently for years without their help, after all. He did it because they, the SHIELD agents, needed it. Hill wasn’t an idiot. She'd noticed the pattern. After they fine-combed every single one of their backgrounds, he chose first those that had nothing else besides SHIELD to survive on, whose entire career was with SHIELD. Who would hire them after Rogers had sunk the entire thing as if all of them were HYDRA instead of just a percentage? It would've been worse then hiring an ex-con and it would have been a shame that, after all their training, all their credentials acquired through sweat and effort, to be unable to perform their jobs because no one would trust them. Tony noticed all this before it was even a formed thought in her own head.

 

After Sokovia…to be more specific…after Ultron…she hadn't known what to think. First she was confused. Stark had been building AIs since he was 17. After decades in the field, none of them ever turned on humanity. Stark had also worked on the scepter once before so… what went wrong? Before she could ask any of those questions, Thor strode through the room and had grabbed Tony by the throat. Maria had been ready to unlock her gun but she'd been confident that the other Avengers would do something about it and... they didn’t. Rogers just asked that Thor make a report.

 

Maria, Rhodey and Dr. Cho had talked extensively about that night, as they were the only ‘non-Avengers’ present. Dr. Cho had been the most shaken. Maria had known about her not-so-subtle crush on Thor and, much like Vision nowadays, her look was one of a broken heart.

 

“Like most people…I had an…idealized image of the Avengers…of this group…Thor grabbed a Non-Enhanced man by his throat, without asking a single question…and Captain America did nothing. He just stood there.” she'd hugged herself but hadn't appeared to want any form of physical comfort, which was good since neither Maria nor Rhodes would've known what to do if she did. They'd been having coffee in the Avengers Tower cafeteria, which almost no one ever went to because there was better coffee and food on other levels of a tower that Tony had basically turned into a mall.

 

Rhodes had breathed in a deep breath. Like Maria, he hadn't made a move because he honestly thought that the other Avengers wouldn’t stand for something like that, for a teammate to attack a weaker one like that. It was then that he'd begun to question if he hadn't always been deluded.

 

“Logically, we can say that the tension was high and Thor has never been one for ‘words before actions’.” Maria’s voice had been cold but her face had clearly reflected how much the event had affected her.

 

Helen, with a shake of her head, had hugged herself a little harder.  “Maybe,” she'd mumbled and, not meeting their eyes, her lips had twisted unhappily, “but this was the first time that I actually feared them.” She'd looked up and Rhodes and Maria were surprised by how scared she'd looked. “I…I agreed to work for SI in part because of the Avengers. I believed in them but…one of them attacked a defenseless man that they deemed ‘guilty’, without even asking if that was the case or not, and even if Dr. Stark **was** guilty, of irresponsibility if nothing else, does that give them the right to attack him like that? And none of the others did anything to stop Thor.” She'd shuddered and averted her eyes back to the table.

 

Neither Rhodes nor Maria could deny it and they could understand why Helen was so scared. Just like Stark out of his armor, Helen couldn’t defend herself from any of the Avengers and if one of them acted harshly like this again and the others were unwilling to stop him or her…what then? That is actually what had made her so scared of Rogers' 'the safest hands are our own'. That only worked as long as they were willing to police one another and that had clearly not been the case.

 

“Ms. Hill? You’re up.” One the assistants called and Maria, coming back to her current surroundings, thanked her. Show time.

 

~*~

 

They watched numbly as the car's tires were shot and the vehicle folded around that tree.  The watched as Howard Stark weakly crawled out of the car, bleeding but still struggling.

 

“My wife…help my wife.”

 

“Howard?”

 

“Sargent Barnes?”

 

“Howard!” Maria tried to scream but her vision blurred and she could barely…and then she didn’t want to look at all, but this was Howard...

 

“Howard...”

 

And then she couldn’t speak around the hand around her throat.

 

Scott ran from the room, sweating, his face pale and turning greener by the second. Sam closed his eyes and Clint couldn’t stop looking. Wanda was biting her lip, not knowing what to do and Steve just let his head fall back towards the wall, exhausted.

 

~*~

 

“Hmmmm.” The telepath touched Tony’s head again, then leaned back and stared at him.

 

“So?” Rhodey prompted.

 

It was only the two of them there. Hansen and Cho were talking about the newest development and what it would mean biologically for Tony. Dr. McCoy and Laura had been given limited access to Friday to try and find anything and Dr. Strange was reading the Accords alongside Banner. That left Rhodey to speak with the only ones that had a few answers to pass along to Pepper, Jennifer, Maria and Hope, who already had enough on their plates. Pym had gone back to San Francisco. With their CEO otherwise engaged, someone had to take care of their company (which made Rhodey think about how the hell Pepper was managing to do all this and manage SI at the same time).

 

“Well… the blood exam came back… within the parameters that we predicted when we decided on using the Extremis. Now, due to the abnormal circumstances, his nervous system is something that I have never seem before.” Professor Xavier was still staring at Tony and Rhodey could feel the hairs at the back of his neck rising.

 

“Meaning?” he tried not to grit out. He wanted answers, Damn it, so he could pass them on to Pepper, who still didn’t know about this mess.

 

“Dr. Richards and I…”

 

“Reed Richards? As in… Fantastic Four, Reed Richards?” Rhodey turned his incredulous eyes toward the telepath, who had the good grace to look a little sheepish.

 

“They…they are…not as…aside from Mr. Grimm and his brother-in-law, Tony is probably the closest thing to a friend that Dr. Richards has.”

 

The media had this idea that everybody with an IQ approaching 250 had this insane rivalry going on and, while that was true to a certain extent, the genius's also met one another every couple of months, if only for the sake of being around other people that could actually understand them during one of their ‘techno-babble’ rants. Rhodey snorted. Even if Tony cursed Richards every other month, he had to admit that Tony was probably the only other scientist in the world that could do both: keep up with him intellectually and actually force a socially normal answer out of Richards so, perhaps, that was the definition Richards had of ‘friend’. To be fair, however, Tony’s definition of ‘friend’ was probably somewhere along those lines, too.

 

“I’m sorry, you were saying something about Richards and you…” he shook his head. He would wrangle and answer out of Tony when he was back on his feet.

 

“Well… there were a couple of times that we met and, on one such occasion, the subject of Tony came up. Richards mentioned that he was the one to convince Tony to play a game of chess with him.”

 

“Oh God,” the Colonel groaned, “and…?”

 

Xavier smiled a little in amusement before continuing, “Tony didn’t know how to play. He spent more or less an hour on the internet and Reed confided that he could barely keep up with whatever Tony was trying to do. He had multiple widows opened at the same time and kept switching them seemingly at random. When he finished, he told Reed to set the board up but, in his own words, ‘to make things more interesting, why not play with five boards at the same time?” he sighed.

 

“And let me guess…” Rhodey smiled despite himself. Of course Tony would do something like this on his first time doing something new.

 

“He put Reed in check simultaneously on all five boards and left with a smirk on his face.” the professor laughed himself silly, accompanied a few second later by Rhodey, who'd lost his attle to keep a straight face.

 

“But what does that have to do with…the…whatever happened here?” he gestured towards his unconscious friend.

 

“Well, his brain obviously was the topic of discussion between myself and Reed, and he commented on something that I'd never considered in this specific light before.” Xavier looked surprised and impressed, “He called Tony ‘the greatest multitasker in the world.’”

 

Rhodey had to smile at that. He'd never thought of it like that but Richards was right. The way Tony could do so many things at the same time and give all of them his focus was something else.

 

“Speaking of which, I have to eventually apologize to Tony, even if I doubt that he would mind. You see, we were both a little…drunk.” he admitted with a blush and Rhodey could feel his jaw drop.

 

He couldn’t picture either of them drunk. Richards was a workaholic that could give Tony a run for his money. He probably didn't even consider drinking as something that existed in his Wonderland, so far down the rabbit hole he went whenever he was on a binge. Not unlike Tony, actually, those two. Rhodey rolled his eyes. And Professor Xavier? Trying to picture him drunk was the same as…whatever, Voldemort admitting that he really liked sunflowers.

 

“Ah…yeah…?” he stared wide eyed at the telepath, who chuckled a little at the Colonel's face…or perhaps he just saw what Rhodey had just pictured, but he was still a little too in shock to be embarrassed about it.

 

“Yes, well…so I am one of the very few that Tony trusts with… medical procedures, so he asked me to run an electroencephalogram and…”

 

“Wow, wow, wow, Doc, a what now?”

 

“A…brain exam. And I have to say: his brain activity is something that I can barely grasp. Reed was right, Tony **is** the greatest multitasker in the world, but what Reed doesn’t…er…didn’t know,” he looked apologetically at Rhodey but he only shrugged, (he was a little uncomfortable with the invasion of privacy, but he knew that Tony wouldn’t mind so much…or at all) “...is the reason for it. You see, because of my… extra gift, I can see how his mind works and the exam only gave it a scientific image. Tony can think in numerous subjects at simutaneously at any given moment. He could be talking to you about War Machine with all the technical details and he could also be thinking about SI’s next project, the balance of his stocks, his next date and where to take her…or him,” they coughed a little in amusement, “and he could also be thinking about the upgrades he wants to make on his car... all at the same time. However, his real mental talent is that he can literally, consciously choose how much focus he wants to give every subject. It is actually… amazing to be in his head when he is like that.”

 

Rhodey could feel the amazement in his own face but in retrospect…yeah, he could see those signs. He'd always known that Tony was someone special. He'd met him when the guy was 14, barely showing up to his classes and still ruining the curve for everybody else. He smiled a little sadly. He knew that, unless he suddenly had Xavier’s abilities, he would never be able to fully grasp just how impressive his friend’s brain truly was.

 

“Ok…and now?” Back to the subject at hand. They'd deviated from it enough, even if the  conversation was far from disinteresting.

 

“Now the Extremis virus seems to have taken that to a whole new level.” He went back to staring at Tony. “His mind had become something akin to a computer and his body something akin to a machine, but still made out of flesh and bone.” he whispered, amazement back and coloring his voice. “As you know, Extremis embeds itself in an…unused part of the brain. It can be used to 'evolve', to enhance any part of the anatomy, muscles and bones. In this case, we were trying to manipulate Extremis into targeting his nervous system so that, in plain terms, Tony wouldn’t lose his hands or his brain because of the amount of time he was exposed to sub-zero temperatures. However, because of the implants he uses to call his armors to himself, and his already existing talent for doing many tasks at the same time, and the old traces of Palladium remaining in his bloodstream… Extremis identified all of it as a natural part of his biology and rearranged it all in a way that now they now **are** a part of his biology. The armors, themselves, are supercompressed in his bones, in his muscles, in his nerve ends. He literally **is** Iron Man, now.”


	25. Iron Man Rises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG you guys! Thank you for the amazing words of encouragement!
> 
> Edited since June, 19 2017 by Fritti13

_“Hello?” his voice sounded far away even to him, “Is anybody there?”_

_“Boss?” Friday, his baby girl, but she sounded so shocked and so **close** , unlike his own voice._

_“What happened? Where am I?” He couldn’t see anything, everything was black, but he trusted his girl._

_“I… Boss, I have to say that I am so happy to be able to talk to you again!” If he didn’t know any better, Tony would have pictured tears, but her teary voice was enough to tug painfully at his heart._

_“I'm happy to be talking to you too.”_

_“Boss, I don’t know what to say…currently I am in the Avengers Compound and Boss-Lady’s earpiece so… I am not sure how to answer that, but physically you are in the hospital.” she offered._

_He focused on what he could explain. Hospital… why? Tony tried to remember but he came up blank. It had been quite a while since he gotten drunk but... “What happened?”_

_“You don’t remember?” She sounded so bitter and sad at the same time that he had no idea if it was because he'd done something when he was building her core, or because Friday had an Irish accent, but she'd always expressed more feelings than JARVIS, his stoic British AI._

_“The last thing I remember is…” then everything came back in colorful flashes and painful blows._

_He'd gone to the Raft and done his best to ignore the words being thrown at him (even by that guy whose name he didn’t even know). He'd asked Wilson… something, not something…something…what did he ask? Something…about Siberia._

_That's right. Siberia… HYDRA base… he had to help Steve, he was wrong and he admitted it, he didn’t check the facts, he didn’t trust that they had a reason, but then…_

_“Howard!” he felt cold, not his mother! Not her!_

_“Please…help my wife.”_

_…_

_“Don’t bullshit me, Rogers, did you know?”_

_“Yes”_

_They'd fought, hadn't they?_

_It was hurting so much. He was so angry, at them, at him, at himself._

_“I don’t care, he killed my mom!”_ _and the words that he would never give to them, for they didn’t deserve them, ‘and for twenty and five years, I blamed my dad!’._

_When it happened, Tony had blamed himself. If only they hadn't fought before… if only he'd convinced at least his mom to stay behind. As much as he'd blamed himself, he also blamed Howard. Only to the media and to SI buyers did he refer to his father as ‘dad’. In his head, he'd been ‘Howard’ since that day. Did he really have to drive so fast? Did he have to take his mom with him? Why did he do that? He took his mom from him!_

_Because angry is easy, it was easy to feel anger and then to take it out on sandbags, on his work, on alcohol. Pain hurt and if he allowed himself to feel the pain of losing them both, did he allow himself to feel it? To really feel how much he missed her? Even him?_

_How much he missed his mom brushing his hair, even as he'd complained that it was girly. How softly she'd held him, as if he was literally made of crystal and a rougher touch would break him. How she'd taught him how to play piano. How long had it been since he played? He missed her. Missed her voice singing to him in Italian and his clumsy attempts to sing back, until his voice became deeper and almost as elegant as hers. He'd never sung again, had he?_

_“Mio Bambino.”_

_What he'd said to Fury…it was right but he could remember a time when Howard was actually a dad to him. The curse of a photographic memory he supposed. Three years old and being carried on his father's shoulders around the newest SI headquarters. If he was brutally honest with himself, that was the last time Tony remembered Howard being just ‘dad’. That was before he'd built that circuit board and then Howard just…distanced himself. Fool that he was, through most of his childhood, Tony thought that if he could impress him enough, Howard would go back to being just ‘dad’ and, yet, even after decades, he had no idea if Howard Stark was ‘Howard’ or ‘dad’._

_Perhaps that didn’t make sense but, to Tony, it was like most of the memories he'd accumulated of ‘Howard’, bitterly fighting the very few he had of ‘dad’. Over the years, he'd had no idea what to call him anymore. So much, in fact, that he could call him both: ‘Howard’ and ‘dad’, in the same sentence and feel perfectly fine with it, ignoring how the people around him looked at him weirdly for that. After the accident…he snorted, after that night, he'd been ‘Howard’ in his head and Tony's ‘dad’ to most other people._

_But then…Rogers rammed that shield that Howard…that dad…had been so proud of into his chest, his vulnerability. And then they'd left, the arm and the shield also left behind on the ground with him._

_He remembered not being able to get up, the joints of he suit were too damaged, the systems were offline and Friday wasn’t answering, it was cold…_

_“Yes, Boss.” Friday said sadly._

_“What?”_

_“I… I saw…I believe I saw what you were thinking.” she added almost sheepishly. but incredulous, just like him._

_He tried to think what that would entail, but first things first._

_“What happened after that?” He had to go back to the beginning to understand how he'd ended up here._

_“I lost contact with you.” and Tony could almost feel the desperation. It was easy to imagine hearing the terror in her voice, “I tried again and again for fifteen minutes. When I was unsuccessful, I tried to follow my protocol but Colonel-Man was unavailable.”_

_Rhodey fell and he wasn't able to catch him but Tony had to listen, he had to understand if he was to help._

_“So I tried the next one: Colonel Carol Danvers. She put together a squad and the Air Force managed to retrieve you from Siberia” Friday concluded. Tony didn’t remember any of that._

_“What did Carol say? What happened to me?”_

_“They got you to the nearest hospital and the doctors there stabilized you. Then you were flown to New York, where a team of more qualified personnel was called by Boss-Lady.” Pepper, of course. He could always count on her. They might not work as a couple now, or even in the future, but they worked well as everything else._

_“Who did she call?”_

_“Dr. Helen Cho, Dr. Maya Hansen, Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, Dr. Stephen Vincent Strange, Dr. Henry Philip McCoy, Professor Charles Francis Xavier, Dr. Henry Jonathan Pym and Dr. Hope van Dyne.”_

_With each name Tony could feel the shock increasing until it broke the barrier, “Wait, wait, Hank Pym? Trying to help me? Are you sure?”_

_“Er… yeah, right?”_

_“Damn, I must have been in really pathetic shape if he agreed to do this **and** involve his daughter…I didn’t know that they'd made up since Cross bit the dust.” he wondered to himself._

_“No, Boss,” Friday sounded angry now, “Dr. Pym and Dr. van Dyne actually feel partially responsible for your current health situation.”_

_Tony frowned. Why would they…_

_“The guy that shrinks and then turned into a giant!” of course, where **else** would the guy that Tony'd never even heard of get his hands on such a thing? Pym? He almost groaned, and then became confused. Pym was notorious for not wanting to share his toys, so who was this guy then?_

_“Er…his name is Scott Edward Harris Lang.”_

_Tony blinked. Uh, perhaps this… mental link would be a good thing in the long term, even if Tony had no idea how to feel about it right now._

_“Graduated from Princeton, Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering, then he…burgled VistaCorp…” Friday stopped at his groan. He remembered that, the little Robin Hood._

_“Yeah, I heard about him. Wasn’t interested in finding out his name or face but I guess I don’t have a choice, now.”_

_Friday cleared her throat, uncomfortable with the new setting and a little annoyed at being interrupted, even if her “feelings” were still a little overwhelmed by being able to hear his voice. He almost chuckled and, for the first time ever, he knew all this not because he knew his Friday girl, but because they are now sharing…head space?_

_“My apologies, please keep going.” he tried to appease her._

_“Apparently, he helped them with Darren Cross last year, but they didn’t give him the Ant-Man suit and they are both very angry that he just took it without even knowing what kind of consequences his involvement would cause for himself and others.”_

_Tony sighed, “Makes sense. I mean, between Berlin and Leipzig there was, what…16 hours? Just enough time to get them all in one place but certainly not enough time to explain the Accords, Bucharest, Berlin, Lagos and the issue with the other Winter Soldiers.”_

_Weird. This kind of mess usually brought him an enormous headache…now there was nothing. “And then? What happened with me? How is this…conversation possible? Oh, god, what did they do?” It’s not like Tony didn’t trust them…well, perhaps not Pym and his daughter so much, not to mention Strange. He didn’t have a lot of trust to go around in the first place and he'd only had a one meeting here or there with the Pyms and Strange, so nobody could blame him if he was a little wary but, still, he respected their work, if nothing else. He couldn’t deny that McCoy, Pym and Maya being involved worried him a little. Not unlike Bruce, Hank hadn't accepted his new…color scheme very well and he was notorious for experimenting on himself with varying results. That was not something that was public knowledge since the guy was…what was his title? Mutant Rep? Politician X? Anyway, the others would only know about his work in genetics, which was beyond advanced, so they would take his opinion at face value… Oh damn. What had they done? His thoughts raced. What the Hell was Strange doing here, wasn't the guy a neuro-surgeon? Why would Pepper call him in? Then Tony remembered the cold. How long had he been in Siberia? How much damage did the cold do? But Pepper involved Maya…or one of the others did? Did that mean they had used Extremis? Were they nuts? That thing had a 12% chance of **not** blowing him up!_

_“Boss, please calm down.” Friday sounded stressed. Yeah, well, so was he! “They…er…Dr. Banner and Dr. Cho contributed to Dr. Hansen’s research on the Extremis Virus. Along with Dr. Strange’s expertise in nervous system reverberation, they managed to increase the chance of success to 35% and…”_

_He laughed almost hysterically, 35%? “Boss…” she reproached him, a little sad, “that was before Dr. Pym arrived and, with his own knowledge they…uh…they were running out of options. Perhaps, if I show you the research… and I can also show you what has been happening. Boss-Lady was very thorough.” And then there was images, data, numbers. He was good at it, this he could do._

_But this time was different. He could see the files and the tapes as a series of zeros and ones, everything transformed into binary code. He'd often studied this way, but now it was as if the knowledge was being downloaded directly into his brain. “Oh, my god.” he breathed. It was…amazing. He could understand everything that was being shown to him, process it and reach a conclusion, all at the same time and still have enough space to just feel the incredibility of it all. Charles was right. His mind and body was something akin to a computer, a machine. He processed better, faster, deduced better and faster, but he still had human responses…this was…_

_Tony smiled a little. Tiredly, sadly…but for the first time in years, with a definite path laid ahead of him. For so long it had been only him dealing with other people’s worries, trying to fix and tidy up other people’s messes along with his own (at least if felt like it). This time, however, it felt easier and lighter, the way it hadn't been since he'd come back from Afghanistan. He was, by no one’s definition, an ‘optimist'. Tony knew that when he woke up, a new set of nightmares would plague him, a new set of obstacles and enemies, different reasons to have headaches, a new set of issues to solve and a new weight to bear. But…_

_Pepper, Rhodey, Happy…Bruce, Maya, Helen, Carol, Thor, Jennifer and Vision…Charles and Hank…Maria Hill…even new faces like Strange, Pym and Hope van Dyne… and Laura Barton aka Bobbi Morse._

_“Boss?”_

_“Yes, Friday?” and of course, His Friday Girl._

_“Are you ready to face the music?”_

_He smiled a little, "Turn on the lights.”_


	26. New and Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited since June, 19 2017 by Fritti13 (phew! Thank you so muuuuch!)

Without even pausing, Tony jumped out of the bed and ripped out all the little wires from his body. The machines began to go berserk, much to his annoyance.

 

“Shut up.” he muttered and then blinked when they... stopped. Tony actually **felt** the ‘click’ of the machines being turned off. “Hmm, gotta test that later.” He took the first step and his eyes widened. “Wow”.

 

Everything seemed lighter somehow, like it took a lot less effort to move. His sight didn’t seem all that different but, he squinted and took a step back with a startled laugh, he squinted again and had to bite his lip to keep from laughing out loud. Tony could feel his eyesight sharpening and focusing, the screen from the Iron Man HUD as if was a natural part of his eyesight.

 

“I will freak out later but for now…” he stared at the door and could **feel** the security cameras in the hallways and, with a other click-like feeling, he connected with them. No one was out there besides a nurse who was just going into another room. In true Tony Stark fashion, he fled from the hospital without telling a single soul and still in his gown.

 

~*~

 

Bruce and Rhodey were calmly discussing moving Tony from the ICU now that he was…more or less himself.

 

“His vitals are stable and his new…biology seems sustainable. The Arc Reactors in his body, more specifically the main one that seemed to be compressing his heart is beating regularly and healthily. To be honest, now it is only a matter of time before Tony to- **son of a bitch!** ”

 

Rhodey would have been shocked that the usually so polite doctor could curse like that if he didn’t feel like doing it himself. The bed was empty…the medical equipment turned off… but they shouldn’t be. This stuff had been designed by both Helen and Tony and produced by SI. Only the doctor with the right password and user name should be able to turn them off or even change the settings. Considering their importance, Tony had made it impossible to be hacked, if only because he was paranoid after watching CSI Cyber… at least it **should have** been impossible to hack…

 

“ **Tony, I'm going to kill you!** ”

 

~*~

 

“Boss? Are you sure about this?”

 

“Relax, Baby-Girl.” Tony would have waved but it would look even weirder. The hospital wasn’t all that far from the Tower and from there it would be easy to have access to a computer.

 

Not that he wouldn’t be able to access a computer now with…this new ability. Technopathy? Or some variation of it, anyway, but all the tech in the vicinity was yelling at him,. That's the only description he could come up with. They weren’t voices, exactly, but he could feel them and they were **loud;** from the flip phone in the pocket of the hippie with the flowers in his hair to the TV in a bar…passing in front of that Best Buy was not something he wanted to repeat. As it was, Tony knew that he was making quite the show walking around barefoot and in a hospital gown, making his way merrily down the street. Oh well, people had seen him doing worse.

 

Quickly putting his eye in the scanner, he tried to suppress a curse when he heard a loud whirling noise in his head and **felt** the circuits working. Tony would have to try and find a way to build this stuff to be more silent or have fewer steps. Quickly shaking off the weird feeling, he yanked the glass doors open just in time to see the receptionist trying and failing to stare.

 

“Er…agh…g-good… evening, Mr. Stark.”

 

“Y’llo.” He barely spared her a glance before sprinting to the elevator. “Friday, talk to me.”

 

“Welcome back to the tower.” Even her voice was a little stiff and Tony swallowed a laugh. She was really against the idea of him just leaving the hospital like that, but Tony had shit to do.

 

“Ok, time to work for a living. Pepper is…Pepper, there isn’t even a word in the English dictionary to describe her awesomeness. Now it's time to do my part.”

 

The doors opened to the main area with a ding that also made Tony cringe. “This will definitely take a while to get used to.”

 

~*~

 

“Where else could he be?” Pepper rolled her eyes, her face as red as it could possibly get.

Typical Tony, just out of a goddamn coma and back to work, right? Well, Pepper was willing to use physical force if necessary.

 

“Did Tony just go through here?” Rhodey didn’t bother with the pleasantries.

 

“Y-yes.” The flustered and freaked out receptionist was proof enough. Rhodey sighed, this one must be new to the job. Now that Tony was on his feet, he would give her two weeks before being numb to weird stuff.

 

“ **TONY!** ” he bellowed the second the doors opened again.

 

Running towards the labs, the three froze at the glass doors. There Tony was, sitting in front of the main computer… doing nothing, not even typing. He sat staring at the screen, but it was rapidly scrolling page after page of information, sometimes in Binary code, sometimes news articles, sometimes files that were from SHIELD…or other sources…but Tony was just staring without moving a single muscle.

 

“Tony?” Bruce approached carefully, not sure how his presence would be taken after…after he'd basically abandoned his friend. He stood beside Tony and felt his jaw dropping, absently he heard Rhodey’s wheelchair and Pepper’s heels.

 

Tony looked…perhaps ‘younger’ was the wrong term but, for the first time ever, Bruce could honestly say that Tony looked well-rested. Bruce had gottn so used to seeing his fellow scientist with huge bags under his eyes, pale and with stress lines marking his forehead that it all made Tony look a lot older than he actually was. Now, his skin was smoother, with a healthy flush of color in his cheeks, his shoulders relaxed and, considering the amount of time spent in a coma, the skin under his eyes was also smooth and clear…damn, even his **hair** looked healthier…even if it was sticking up in every direction.

 

That wasn’t what made him freeze however. It was the fact that Tony's eyes were glowing blue, the same blue as the Arc Reactor and the Iron Man eyes. He exchanged a look with Colonel Rhodes while Ms. Potts tried to gain Tony’s attention.

 

Now what?

 

~*~

Shuri took a deep breath and released it slowly and calmly, squaring her shoulders. She knocked on the door.

 

“Come in.”

 

“Shuri!” her brother sounded surprised ,and he should be. Shuri had been traveling all over the world, but admittedly, more often to America these past few weeks. She seldom stayed for more than a couple of days in Wakanda, if only long enough to grab fresh clothes and an update on the state affairs. “To what do I owe this visit?”

 

Her hands sweated but they didn’t shake, “I have a confession to make.”

 

to make”.


	27. The Common People

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I kept thinking about only one thing this past week:
> 
> How exactly was Tony going to sweep Bucharest and Lagos (let's not forget) under the rug? So much destruction and death, I re-read Kizmet amazing, beyond amazing fic, 'Uncompromising Principles' because I remembered that it said something along those lines.
> 
> SPOILER FOR ALL THOSE THAT DIDN'T FINISH READING 'UNCOMPROMISING PRINCIPLES'!!!
> 
> I agree with Foggy/Kizmet in something: Tony probably used the fact that no one would want to accuse T'Challa, the new King of Wakanda of breaking the Accords his father championed, that's not politically savvy, and it would be awkward in a unprecendeted level, however what about Lagos?
> 
> There was no powerful political figure involved there that Tony could use the same manuver, so I kept thinking about what he said 'You sign, and all this is put behind us'... there you have it:
> 
> Edited since May, 05 2017 by Fritti13.

They were a crowd by themselves. Half of them were very pale-skinned, leaner than the average and mostly with dark hair, the other half had predominantly dark skin and hair. There were almost three hundred of them. The spokesman was frail looking, perhaps in his eighties, but his voice was strong and firm. A screen behind him scrolled subtitles.

“Good afternoon,” the translator quickly did her job, “My name is Jan Lehner. I am eighty two years old and I was born and raised in Novi Grad, Sokovia. My family had a good and healthy life. Because of the history of wars surrounding our country, we are firm believers in pacifism.”

In 2015, tragedy struck our home. Helpless to do anything but rely on those that the world calls the Avengers. We lost our homes, our families, our livelihoods. We lost everything and then Tony Stark came and assumed full responsibility for what happened. He explained what he tried to do, how he failed and that he was willing to do anything to make amends. That didn’t bring back our lives but…that somehow helped us move on. Instead of just wondering what happened, why this happened, someone came forward and explained it and helped us afterwards. I sincerely hated Tony Stark, even after he spent billions in the reconstruction of my city…because that wouldn’t bring back my son or my youngest grandchild.”

“For a year now, all I could think was... that because of Tony Stark, I would never again see my son, my daughter-in-law would have to raise two children by herself and they would no longer have their father and youngest sibling. As I helped with the last of the reconstruction, I saw the news on TV. Our police force confirmed that what we were watching was real. I watched as Wanda Maximoff, one of our own, attacked Tony Stark and let him take the  scepter that caused Ultron. I watched her…helping that... **thing.** ” His lips trembled and he paled, but Jan was still standing firm, determined to see this through.

“Tony Stark had already…distanced himself from the Avengers, even if the world thought he was kicked out, just like Bruce Banner, for Johannesburg. That is what the world thought: Tony Stark created Ultron, Bruce Banner lost control of the Hulk and, as a result, Novi Grad, Sokovia and Johannesburg, South Africa paid the price. We all believed that, as punishment, they were both kicked out of the Avengers and we all breathed a little easier. Of course they weren’t fit to protect us; we would always be looking over our shoulders because of them.

But now we learn the truth. Both were manipulated into attacking, into doing what they didn’t want to by one of our own. Wanda Maximoff invaded their minds and twisted them into doing her bidding and then hid it from the world. The Avengers themselves hid her actions in Johannesburg.

I… all of us came here today to say to the world: we are stronger than some despicable woman who sought to destroy us. But, because of those that are protecting her, we cannot do this alone. So we have come to appeal to you. We don’t want revenge. We don’t even want Wanda Maximoff to die, or to suffer. When we thought that Tony Stark and Bruce Banner were the ones to bring us suffering, we were angry and in pain, but we were still appreciative that they were paying for their mistakes, trying to make amends, that they were attempting to bring about. This wasn’t a mistake. Wanda Maximoff knew what she was doing. If she did not realize what she had done at the time, she knew enough later to hide it. What we want is justice.”

 

~*~

“It’s Captain America.”

She rolled her eyes much to the annoyance of her male counterpart. “So what? It’s also ‘just’ the presidents of two countries that've rallied for the sole purpose of bringing a single woman to justice, a woman that ‘Captain America’ is protecting.”

 He looked pissed but his voice was calm, which was good, since the second this became a shouting match the whole thing would be called off. “First off, we don’t know that Captain Rogers knew about this whole thing. Who would know about Ultron? Not even Tony Stark knew and he was the one that built the damn thing. And about Johannesburg, we saw the videos, all of the Avengers were down save for Hawkeye and what good would he be against the Hulk? I still say: Iron Man should have dragged him away from the city instead of just plowing into him right then and there.”

 “Any other arguments to Julie, Derek?” the moderator asked when the twenty something years old got red in the face. He took a deep breath before answering.

 “Yes. Not only did Captain America **and** all the other Avengers know about Johannesburg being that… Scarlet Witch’s doing, but they did nothing, reported nothing and, just because she joined them after finding out that global extinction would be a problem for her, too, she's allowed to become an Avenger? A five year old knows that you don’t trigger the Hulk, and she **knew** that Dr. Banner was the Hulk. ‘I want the big one’ ring any bells? And we weren’t talking about Johannesburg and Iron Man, we were talking about Scarlet Witch’s crimes and how we can’t just say ‘oh, so now you wanna help? Please do, and here, let’s burn all your criminal records, they never happened’. Oh, and about Dr. Stark and Johannesburg, since you brought that up: fine, but to be honest ‘get him away from the city’ is your **first** priority when you go one on one against the Hulk? Or just ‘for heaven’s sake I hope I don’t die’? To me, the fact that Tony Stark had enough guts to face him at all and still tried to protect that city is already praise-worthy.”

“Ok, but he still engaged in combat. The second he decided to do that, he should have put his priorities straight. And thank you for commenting about that clause in the Sokovia Accords.” she sent him a smirk, “There is a clause that states that if the signatory has a criminal record, it may be possible for him or her to work off his or her sentence by… ‘Avenging’…and there is still people who support Iron Man? Unbelievable! Basically if a killer signs the damn thing, he can be an Avenger and work his sentence off like this!”

 Derek only assumed a very cold expression and his voice was just as emotionless, “Which just begs the question why **Private** Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, would be so against it. After all, most of his ‘team’ have previous records a mile long.”

 ~*~

Tony sighed and finally exited the net. He could spend days like this, but his stomach was reminding him that he was still very much human…or something like that. The second he didn't have anything else occupying his time he knew he was going to freak out so hard.

“Tony, **what the hell**?”

Oh Damn, Rhodey and Pepper…and Bruce, had found him. A quick dive back into the internet told him that it had been almost three hours since he left the hospital…oops?


	28. Skill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I need to say something:
> 
> English isn't my first language, so any punctuation (especially) or grammar error, I am truly sorry for them.
> 
> Spelling I usually don't make mistakes, at least they are less often than punctuation or grammar but I will try to watch out for them more throughly from now on.
> 
> Edited since May, 07 2017 (by Fritti13, that I can't believe puts up with me ^^)

Tony took all the screaming and lectures Rhodey and Pepper threw at him, knowing that he worried them sick with his disappearing act. Although, to be brutally honest, all the times he had been in a hospital for one reason or another, Tony had always found a way to ditch them at the first possible opportunity. He knew it was a weak excuse, but he had horrible memories of hospitals.

 

With a promise to take it easy, with Friday as a witness since she would shut down the whole tower if necessary, Pepper went back to managing his company. Rhodey and Bruce went to the communal floor to get him something to eat and to keep an eye on him, since previous experience had taught them not to trust Tony when he promised to ‘take it easy’.

 

Leaning back in his chair and ignoring the fact that he was still in his hospital gown, Tony tried to organize his thoughts. To be brutally honest, Pepper had executed this campaign so perfectly that there wasn’t much he could do, now that he was awake, besides just getting out of her way.

 

But… he scratched his beard. There **_was_** one point that Pepper…that everybody, was ignoring because they were simply human. Tony got, better than any of them, how feelings sometimes got in the way. Shaking away the faint buzzing in his head from all the surrounding  tech, he tried to organize his thoughts after basically, for all intents and purposes, being inside a computer.

 

They were all being driven by anger, justified anger, and that same anger was so focused right now that it was beginning to make them sloppy. Thor had managed to cover a slip before it did any damage.  For Tony, however ... for the first time in many years Tony was able to look at his parents’…murders... objectively, as something in the past. In this case, if it got out that they knew the truth about Tony's parents, about a high profile figure such as Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier and Captain America’s best buddy, being involved in Howard Stark’s death, the public that currently supported them would do a 180 and throw them in the same dark hole as Captain America and his little posse. Hiding the truth so they could reveal it at the most opportune time? Yeah, that was bad.

 

He took a deep breath. Tony himself was mentally compromised but…who wasn’t? All of them were working so hard and were so committed to ‘the cause’ because they had an emotional stake in it, one way or another.

 

The only difference was that Tony had a single advantage over them; even before Pym had the brilliant idea to inject him with Extremis, Tony had always been able to ignore his feelings in favor of what was happening at the moment. Sure, the whole thing made him crash and burn after he didn’t have anything else to occupy his time but, in the heat of the moment, he was perfectly capable of pushing it all into the background and thinking about the whole scenario as just that: simple facts to distill and extract an answer to the problem. With  Extremis, this seemed like something automatic. All his feelings were still there but it was like they were minimized, like different windows on a computer and he just had to decide which one to focus on first.

 

He frowned; this could be a problem in the future. Feelings are what made him human and they were still there, he reassured himself, but Tony knew himself well enough to be aware that if he had a choice, he would ignore them. He'd done just that for decades now, after all, and now that he could do it with a literal mental switch? He shuddered.

 

“Are you ok?” Pepper asked, snapping him out of his reverie. Tony had some idea of what was showing on his face for Pepper to be this worried.

 

“I think…” he took a deep breath. The last time he'd done this, he was 17 years old and it did not end well…for the other party, but Tony needed this, if things kept going in the direction he was predicting. “I need a therapist, a very good one and very ethical, too. It won’t do to have everything I say published in some magazine.”

 

Pepper’s eyes were widening with each word but Tony wasn’t finished yet, “After that…well, logic says that I should wait until therapy actually makes some progress but we don’t have the luxury of time so, after I find a therapist, I want a meeting with T’Challa.”

 

~*~

 

Everett looked even worse than he sounded. Hope wondered if she should just make some excuse and give him an hour to catch up on some sleep, but this was too important. After Ms. Walters had given the people of Sokovia and Johannesburg the means to speak up, Ms. Potts managed to do the same for the people of Lagos. Their plans had changed since Dr. Stark woke up, however, so Hope would be the one to talk to the Nigerian officials, along with Everett Ross, who was looking quite the worse for wear at the moment. Hope knew that. since Secretary Ross had been stripped of his position, pretty much all the paperwork part of the job had fallen into Everett’s lap.

 

Hope could only wince in sympathy. Ross didn’t have friends. No one was crazy or dumb enough to be friends with that man, but he had a lot of contacts that owed him a lot of favors. In other words, he had too much dirt on too many people to go up against him. She knew that he would strike back. To be honest, there was so much work to do that they barely had the time to think about it at the moment and, with the eyes of the entire world currently on him, Ross would stay his hand for now. That was enough for them to work in peace.

 

Anyway, they were here to get the entire story, to hopefully review the footage, to get testimony, civilians and officials both. The families and friends of the victims were already taken care of. Now it was time to find the ammunition needed to give them their fourth, but not last, strike. Hope gritted her teeth; they'd made so many mistakes that, if it wasn’t for Ms. Potts’ idea to do this chronologically, no one would know where to even begin. So much pain, so many people hurt and for what?

 

Johannesburg, Ultron and Sokovia were taken care of. Hope knew that there wasn’t a single soul in Europe or Africa that would aid her and, yet, they couldn’t go after the witch. All she needed to do was wave her fingers and the normal soldiers would just turn on each other while that witch skipped away. Even them, even Vision or Thor, were not immune to her powers. Perhaps now that Dr. Stark was awake, he could come up with something.

 

Shuri knew that there was no way out for the little witch, and her brother had to know it too, but… Hope shook her head. She couldn’t pretend to understand what was going on and it wasn’t any of her business. Knowing or not knowing didn’t make a difference if they couldn’t confront her without facing their worst fears.

 

For now their spheres didn’t touch. Maximoff had no way out but they didn’t have any way in so Hope focused on what she **could** do.

 

“Good afternoon. I am Everett Ross, head of JTTF, and this is Dr. van Dyne. We have scheduled a meeting.” he greeted the young woman behind the desk at the police station.

 

~*~

 

Jennifer was keeping herself awake through sheer force of will. She needed to finish the speech and then show it to Ms. Potts and Ms. Hill so they could do their own editing. She knew that Colonel Rhodes, Colonel Danvers and Dr. Barton…Dr. Morse…? Were also preparing their own speeches to the public. There were also the people from Lagos and the legal repercussions, then Bucharest, then Germany and then the circle would be complete. She just needed to finish this.

 

“Ms. Walters?”

 

Her head snapped to the door before her brain did, so it took her second to find the will or even the words to answer, she was so tired.

 

“Hey, Vision.”

 

“Ms. Walters, I feel the need to point out that it is currently 3 a.m. And, a Hulk or not, you also need rest to be fully functional.” The words were logical, even cold, but his tone and face were anything but. It was disconcerting, touching, and a little cute all at the same time and that was pretty much her last coherent thought before her eyelids just became too heavy for her.


	29. Civil Talks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One thousand thanks and kudos for my Beta, even pressed for time, Fritti13 still had my back with this chap!
> 
> Re-edited since May, 07 2017. '^^ again by this amazing person, Fritti13.

If Shuri told Ms. Potts then Dr. Stark knew it too, and besides, T’Challa didn’t fool himself into thinking that Dr. Stark wasn’t smart enough by himself to figured it out. That was confirmed by the very first words out of the man’s mouth, “Rogers tipped his hand when he got the others out of the Raft.”

T’Challa could only hold back a grimace. He had thought the exact same thing when the Captain suddenly showed up in Wakanda with the rest of his posse. Rogers had needed a aircraft and somewhere to take off and land. The Raft was one of the most secure prisons in the world; not even Tony Stark was aware of its existence before his ex-teammates were sent there.

“Your majesty, to be honest,” Tony began, “I am not overly interested in what you have to say. I also owe you no explanation beyond the purpose of this meeting, so I will get to it.” He paused a little and T’Challa had no idea what to think.

“The Avengers were the first time I ever felt a part of something bigger than myself, something that could positively impact the entire world. SI or not, there is only so much I can do behind a desk.

The world wasn’t prepared yet for the Avengers, still isn’t, for any of us and I wanted to do my part. I shared what I have, everything that money could buy; be that houses, vehicles, clothes, food, medical care. I even shared what I didn’t have, my time. The Avengers were not my only responsibility, but they still demanded my presence, rolling their eyes when I said that I was busy. That said, I **_can_** understand why you would shelter James Barnes. You wrongly targeted him, but why would you condone their actions by sheltering the rest of them I don’t know and I really don’t want to know.

Even if they realize the shit storm that they caused in the world, your country won’t be spared. Regret or not, you hid and assisted wanted fugitives and confirmed terrorists . . . and I won’t help you because that would mean helping them. It may sound petty but I’m tired of cleaning up other people’s messes.”

Tony sighed. “I supported the Avengers. I still do. A group of amazing individuals that protect the world from threats that no one can protect themselves against . . .  this is an ideal I can get behind. That does not necessarily mean Steve Rogers, Wanda Maximoff, Sam Wilson, Clint Barton, Natalia Romanova and Scott Lang. I don’t want them in my life, professional or otherwise.

I honestly don’t know nor do I care what you intend to accomplish by sheltering them, considering that I figured out their location by myself I can still claim plausible deniability. So I wanted you to know my stance on the situation and my reasons for it, that’s all I wanted to say.”

~*~

Clint almost had a heart attack. The woman that just appeared on TV was blonde, tall and wearing a white and black bodysuit. Where before it used to have the SHIELD insignia it now had the Avengers’ ‘A’. video was taped, not an interview or a press conference and had been uploaded online to the UN website.

“My name is Bobbi Morse, aka Mockingbird. I had just gotten my PhD in biology from Georgia Institute of Technology when I became a SHIELD field agent and got accepted into the Gladiator Project. The project was funded by SHIELD in an attempt to recreate the Super Soldier Serum. Long story short; they managed to successfully combine the original work of Professor Erskine with the Infinity Formula from the Red Room and I became the only recipient. After it was all said and done, the only ones left are now in prison and they were too low on the food chain to have the knowledge to reproduce what was done to me.

Mind you, all this information is already available to the public since 2014 when Natalia Romanova, aka the Black Widow, dumped all SHIELD files online.” Bobbi paused momentarily before continuing.

“Clint Barton and I met through SHIELD assignments. I was…a freelancer, as much as this job allows you to be one. Either way, we got involved because it was… in many ways, more dangerous for me to fall, be it in battle or into enemies’ hands. Because of the serum in my veins, as unique as the ones it originated from, I decided to retire. Then I got pregnant and for the last 14 years I have been perfectly happy with my life . . . until my husband decided to go off on a mission he knew nothing about.”  She glanced down to her clenched hands.

“I have three kids. If one of their parents is rebelling against something that he never even bothered to understand, then the other is showing the world that this family can still be trusted.

 The last few days have been . . . I forgot what this was like. The thrill, the fun . . .  but also that feeling that you get when you realize just how much you helped.  But this should be like anything else in life. The reason I was accepted into Project Gladiator is because I had a PhD in biology. I showed them that I knew what I was doing. My training, my practice, was approved by the specialists in the area. Being an Avenger should be the same. For now, the Accords are all we have, but it’s better than going all over the world and getting into fights no one asked us to interfere in.

The mother of three sighed. “I am asking the world to trust in me, completely undeserving since I have never done anything to warrant that trust, and all I can give is my word that I will do my best to stop Hawkeye and his current teammates from hurting anyone else.”

~*~

“For what is worth, thank you Ms. van Dyne.” the accent was thick but his pronunciation was careful and clear.

“It was the very least that I could do due to my part in it.s”

The Nigerian lawyer shook hands with all of them before departing and Hope was left alone with the representatives.

The civil suits were well under way and, even if unlikely that they would ever make headlines, Hope would be damned before every single person affected had a way of speaking to the entire world.

~*~

_“I was with my daughter buying some flowers. We were going to visit my sister. She was due to be released in a couple of days. We entered the building and I was talking to the doctor and then, the whole building shook!” the woman's eyes were swollen and her voice was shaking but she kept going. “We all went to the ground The ceiling fell on us and I didn’t know what was going on! My head hurt and I was carted out of the building. My sister . . . a piece of concrete fell on her hand, she had to . . . to amputate it and my daughter; my tiny, 6 year old daughter, will probably never wake up again. She is in a coma. After the floor caved in where she was standing she fell a whole floor below.”_

_The screen went blue and the anchor turned to the camera, “And that was one of the many interviews made with the numerous victims in Lagos, South Africa. Many civil suits are piling up against the members of Captain America's faction of Avengers which include illegal entry and reckless endangerment, not to mention manslaughter. These are only the most recurrent allegations.”_

Clint turned off the TV and hid his face in his hands.

~*~

“Are you sure, Jennifer? Most of the fire will be on you after this.” Pepper wanted to make sure that Jennifer was making an informed decision. They had to put the right words and the right sentiment behind this. Jennifer would take the lead after the last victims had had the chance to speak up andTony would be there too, but for the first time ever he would be on the background.


	30. Globalization

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to Fritti13, an amazying editor!

They knew it would be a three way tug war. After Tony woke up, it seemed that the base of operations had changed from the Compound to the newly re-named Stark Tower.

Every single one of them that would step up as active members were there; Carol Danvers, Bruce, Stephen Strange, Thor, Laura Barton, Rhodey, Vision, Jennifer and Hope. Maria Hill and Pepper were there so they could give support and another perspective as far as PR and logistics went. Enough was enough with Tony doing everything by himself.

Pepper looked at Tony at the end of the long table. He looked healthier and even now, two days later after waking up getting the “OK” from Bruce and Dr. Strange, Tony looked…to be honest he looked sad. Pepper bit her lip, thinking he looked sad but at least well rested. Turning back to the matter at hand, she answered Tony, “South Africa, Nigeria and Sokovia have a legal claim on Maximoff. Even Dr. Banner has the right to press charges”

“We’ll talk.” Jennifer put in after staring at her cousin. Tony knew that the two had probably already discussed it but, with the eyes of the world on them, Bruce wasn’t willing to do something like that.

“Anyway,” Pepper added, “because of her part in HYDRA and then helping Ultron, the Sokovians are willing to look the other way when it’s about Tony and Dr. Banner knowing about her criminal past owing to the fact that Tony took full responsibility for Novi Grad’s fall and both were her victims. The U.S. is equally sympathetic towards Tony managing to get her a work visa since the world knows that he felt guilty because of her brother without ever knowing her part in Ultron. Now that it has been revealed that she had a hand in Ultron’s creation,” Pepper glanced at Tony a little worriedly before continuing carefully, “Sokovia is moving full force. Even if they claimed to have revoked her citizenship, they will be after her”

“And to hell with the South Africans and Nigerians that want a piece of her, too.” Carol completed with a sigh.

“Exactly.” Pepper nodded and glanced towards Bruce with an apologetic shrug. “Johannesburg is also going to want a trial, and the South Africans are beginning to put pressure on their government to reach out to their allies as to have more people against Maximoff. So far South Africa is the only one that has put this idea on the table but it won’t take long before Sokovia and Nigeria also contact their own allies. I wouldn’t be surprised if NATO comes up at some point and then things are going to get even uglier.”

Tony sighed. “After the videos and the evidence, not to mention Novi Grad’s citizens’ own experiences with her mind powers and Johannesburg, they have to know that it doesn’t matter how many troops there are, they won’t scratch her and that the most likely scenario is them turning on each other. I'm betting they'll bring remote controlled artillery, the heavy ones since they know that Maximoff would be able to deflect bullets, but not explosions as Lagos had proved.” Tony’s words made them blanch at his logic. Genius or not, with so many heads on this, the officials would come to the same conclusions and then what Tony said would come true.

Remote control so they wouldn’t be subjected to ** _mind_** control would mean the possibility of kamikaze attacks to avoid casualties on their side. Heavy artillery since Maximoff proved that she could defend herself against bullets but not against explosions. Dear lord, Laura could feel her head getting lighter and her vision getting darker, “ _Clint, do you have any idea of what you got yourself into?”_

“And Lagos? Did the Nigerians say anything yet?” Jennifer turned to Pepper, who only sighed and massaged her temples.

“For now they are sitting back and waiting for the public reactions to the interviews. They will probably decide what do after that. Some families agreed to give the newspapers pictures taken of the victims. Only a few don’t want anything being exposed, most want the witch behind bars but the general sentiment is that they want her behind bars that are very far away from them; an Alcatraz sort of thing, and yes, ‘Alcatraz’ seemed the most common word to describe the kind of prison they want Maximoff to be sent to: isolated, no way out, no one around to manipulate and where she can explode whatever she wants.”

None of them flinched, not because of lack of compassion but because of lack of sympathy and also because of understanding. Most of them knew what it was like to be attacked and not get any justice for it. Sokovia and South Africa thought they had closure when Tony began to make amends to both countries and now they'd found out that another was to blame for their misery. Nigeria was still mourning and full of rage. They were well aware that Wanda had done too much and, as inhuman as that sounded, all of them had heard worse from Sokovia, Nigeria and South Africa. Besides, Pepper was only saying what was the most common thought of the people affected.

Pepper turned toward the other side of the table, “Hope? You talked to the Romanians?”

“They gave me an hour, but I’m not sure if I was be able to…Pym Technologies will give them full support in this because the members of the JTTF that died in Bucharest also had Americans in their midst. The second this information gets out, Captain America’s support will take another blow.” she grimaced. “Americans feel bad when something horrible happens outside the U.S. but usually don’t get off their asses to help. Now that their own has suffered because of something Captain America has done, it will be harder to just spew bullshit.”

Tony turned to Pepper then, “What is situation in Johannesburg?”

“Well,” she mused, “most seem sympathetic toward you and Dr. Banner but they are…there are people that seem to agree with that woman from the debate, saying that you should have gotten the Hulk out of the town first and also…unlike Sokovia, they are beginning to call attention to both you and Dr. Banner for hiding Maximoff’s involvement.”

The billionaire sighed and looked at the at the table, “To be honest, I knew what Rogers would do once he showed up here with the witch and the speedster; a pep talk, some last-second help and that was good enough for him, but I never thought that the ‘greatest tactician in history’ would put Maximoff in the field if she couldn’t cut it.”

Stephen looked up at that, “The way you say it…it’s not like you’re talking about her not being trained enough.”

Tony only stared at him before shrugging, “What happened in Lagos wasn’t a question of control, Maximoff just bit off more than she could chew. She already proved that she has a very strong and fine control over her powers. Johannesburg was proof of that, the way the…Rogers, Thor and Widow all went down so they wouldn’t be able to help while I didn’t even get on my knees back in Sokovia, and…” he seemed unable to continue.

“I see what you mean,” Stephen cut in, “Maximoff manipulated you into creating Ultron and perhaps that was not her intention, but her exact words were ‘I saw his fears, I knew that he would self-destruct’. That doesn’t seem the same as what she did to the others that were so out of it that they couldn’t even stand on their own. The Sokovian street security tapes support your claim. She waved her fingers and the citizens got up and left with no word. Those are not the actions of someone that can’t control her powers.”

“Exactly!” Tony looked around the table. “In Lagos, Maximoff thought she could contain the explosion and when she realized that she couldn’t, she tried to get it away from her and Rogers. The problem is that this is not the same as getting it to a safe place. It wasn’t a control problem, she just bit off more than she could chew.” he repeated and leaned back on his seat.

All of them thought back to what Tony and Stephen just said and knew they were right. Wanda just didn’t cut it and no one said a single word, just chucking it up to a control problem. But either way…that was…horrifyingly arrogant. Rogers and Widow thought she was prepared for field missions when she clearly wasn’t, hence trying to contain that explosion. Why did she even think that she could do something like that? Or the others thought it was a control thing and never addressed it. If they thought it was a control issue and they didn’t do anything then that meant that they were putting the safety of people, civilians and innocents in the hands of someone that ‘didn’t have enough control’. Whatever it was, whatever they ‘thought’…

“The public is going to eat them alive.” Hope voiced their thoughts.

“Widow and Rogers,” Carol also entered the conversation, “they were the ones responsible for training the new recruits. The responsibility will end with them. The Nigerians will want Maximoff most of all but someone is bound to point this out and they will also want Rogers and Romanova.”

Tony couldn’t help but chuckle a little, “Perhaps this is giving him too much credit but Rogers was forever ‘shifting the blame’ from Maximoff to himself,  and even said, in his own words, ‘he should have noticed the bomb’ and ‘he says ‘Bucky’ and suddenly I am an 18 year old punk again’. So the second someone calls attention to proper chain of command, Rogers and Widow will be just as responsible for Lagos as Maximoff because one was her CO and both were her trainers.”

“And that means that they will enter the fray when the time comes for them to be put in front of a jury. They will have to fight for a piece of them against Romania, German and America.” Carol completed with a huff. Each country has a very different definition of punishment and justice; what was justice for one could be too lenient to other, or might be too harsh…

“Russia too.” Pepper hated to bring even more horrible news, even if not for them, they were still the ones that are doing the brunt of the work.

“Romanova!” It clicked for Jennifer but when she saw the others were still looking confused she clarified, “Natasha Romanov is the newest and most known identity of Natalia Romanova, aka the Black Widow. This is all online since she dumped those files. Her list of assassinations for the Red Room is…in the hundreds, easily rivaling the Winter Soldier’s rumored kills. She's proved that she wasn’t willing to listen to the will of the countries. Worse, that she was willing to lie and double cross them, and since she was born in Russia and most of her… ‘jobs’ were there… Russia is one of the 117 original countries mainly because of people like her. Not all her hits were on fellow assassins or corrupt political figures.”

Bruce sighed tiredly and rubbed his temple, “So to recapitulate, Sokovia is just waiting for the right time to pounce, Lagos is also biding their time so they can respond properly depending on the public answer, South Africa is up in arms, all three will go for the witch and if that is not enough, the second someone calls attention to the chain of command, Nigeria will also be after Widow and Rogers. Russia is in it, too, because of Widow’s history and the circle will be complete once Romania and German begin to hunt for Rogers, Barnes and Wilson, especially since he was involved in Bucharest, and Widow, Lang and Barton for their part in Leipzig? And as the cherry on the cake, the U.S. will also move because of the sheer number of Americans wrecking other people’s countries.”

Jennifer could only blanch. “It will be a bloodbath.”

“At least,” Tony shrugged, “this time, with some hope, it will be only metaphorically.”

~*~

 _“How could something like this happen?”_ Steve couldn’t understand it. Sam, Scott, Clint and Wanda, standing behind him, could only watch as country after country pronounced themselves in support for those affected, agreeing to extradite the criminals of their respective allies. The original 117 countries in support of the Accords were now 135.

Considering what happened in Johannesburg and Lagos, there wasn’t a single country in Africa that didn’t agree to classify Wanda Maximoff, Natalia Romanova, Steven Grant Rogers and Samuel Thomas Wilson as _personae non gratae_ , with one obvious exception.

Europe was also rallying; Sokovia, Romania and Germany, if one country is not allied with one, it was allied with the other.

The U.S. washed their hands of the affair. The Air Force and Army had already dishonorably discharged Steve and Sam and were now discussing doing the same with Barnes.

As it was the only continent that had yet to say anything on the matter were the Asian countries, even if Japan was one of the strongest supporters of the Accords, so it was only a question of time before the world would focus on them.

 


	31. Mind Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MAAAAAANY thanks for Kuramas_Kat, I got a lot of ideas because of our chat!!!
> 
> Credit a lot of this chap to Kuramas_Kat!!
> 
> Anf of course, many thanks to my Beta; Fritti13, without her the readers would think I am illiterate...
> 
>  
> 
> Ok, I have received a lot of feedback (and also emails from my lazy friends that couldn't be bothered to use the comments box ¬¬) asking for Natasha and what happened to her, I planned on having this a little later but here you go:
> 
> I also added new tags! Characters mainly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10 hours after Siberia – Bucky goes to cryo.
> 
> 24 hours after Siberia – Rogers breaks the others out of the Raft.
> 
> 2 days after Siberia – Tony Stark is retrieved by the Air Force led by Colonel Carol Danvers.
> 
> 4 days after Siberia – Extremis is injected.
> 
> 12 days after Siberia – Shuri calls Jennifer.
> 
> 14 days after Siberia – Shuri asks for help, Nigeria, Romania and German declare ‘Team Captain America’ and Sharon and Natasha criminals. Two hours later Pepper leaks the video about Wanda’s involvement in Ultron and Maria Hill gives her press conference three hours after that. Clint and Scott get their first shock. T’Challa and Scott talk. Sam confronts Steve about Wanda and explain about Tony’s decision and Vision agreeing to Wanda staying in the Compound. Scott and Clint talk about Steve.
> 
> 16 days after Siberia – Maximoff is officially stateless. Sokovia and Johannesburg become allies.
> 
> 17 days after Siberia – Sam, Steve, Clint and Scott confront Wanda about Ultron. The tapes about Johannesburg are released. Hours after, Jennifer gives statements.
> 
> 18 days after Siberia – Thor’s expresses his support of the Accords and reveals about Howard and Maria Stark’s assassination. Team Captain America sans Wanda discusses Sokovia, Johannesburg and what Steve didn’t tell them. Sam comes to the realization that he believed and knew more about the propaganda than the man.
> 
> 19 days after Siberia – Jennifer and Vision talk. Tony wakes up.
> 
> 20 days after Siberia – It is revealed how Howard and Maria Stark actually died. Maria thinks back. Rhodey and Charles discuss Tony.
> 
> 21 days after Siberia – Tony wakes up. Extremis!Tony Stark. South Africans and Sokovians address the people, they ask for help to get justice for their loved ones that died because of Maximoff.
> 
> 23 days after Siberia – Tony talks with T’Challa, Laura/Bobbi reveals herself.
> 
> 25 days after Siberia – Team Iron Man discuss the global legal situation of the ex-Avengers and...

“Ok, next order of business. Tony, you said that there was something you wanted to talk about concerning Maximoff? About when Rogers made her an Avenger?” Pepper talked slowly and softly, likely apprehensive of possibly setting him off.

This caught the attention of the people in the room. Stephen even exhaled, exasperated that there was yet even more problems regarding Maximoff.

“Look, when I said that I knew what Rogers would do…” Tony looked at the table.

Hope completed it a little hesitantly, “When he got here with the Maximoff twins in tow…?”

“Yeah. Bruce is the one that…made me think about it, actually.” his fellow scientist regarded him with concern and, OK, now Tony was beginning to get annoyed with all the tiptoeing. He was not made of sugar, “He asked Rogers how he knew that the witch wasn’t messing with his head…”

“Oh my God, you don’t think…” Bruce turned a little green at the thought and this time it wasn’t due to anger.

“I don’t know what I think,” Tony murmured, “I am keeping the options open or perhaps trying to find an excuse or… I don’t know. No matter how many times I revise that time, I can’t help but consider the possibility.”

Rhodey rolled his eyes, “Care to share with the class?”

Bruce huffed, “Rogers didn’t even know what we were trying to do with Vision’s body, building it or destroying it like we planned, but one word from a HYDRA agent that just followed his ridiculous instructions to stop a train to prevent the deaths of hundreds of people in and around it and he comes in and attacks Tony? To be honest, considering everything, including his own personality and Maximoff’s powers and actions, there is… what? A 50/50 chance that the witch has been waving her fingers in his head?”

And that opened a can of worms that no one there wanted to see the inside of and yet they had no choice. There was no one else that had a chance of apprehending them, especially with Bruce and Tony’s resolve of trying their best to never again have anything to do with the rogue Avengers, and after…after everything, Carol, Laura, Stephen, Hope, Vision, Thor, Jim and Jennifer couldn’t fault them.

“If the witch is again on the move, I am willing to put her down!” Thor was already gripping his hammer.

“Calm down, Thor.” Jennifer asked at the same time Rhodey spoke.

“With the possibility that Rogers **_is_** being influenced, why didn't you ever say anything?”

Tony looked at Rhodey and sighed. “First of all, I don’t have any proof besides the fact that Rogers taking just her word at face value was absurd. Second: this would fall on the same category as Johannesburg. No one would believe in me after Ultron and the Hulk is not universally loved, especially out of the U. S. If Captain America says she is ‘OK’ and Ultron’s creator says she is not… which one do you think people would believe? And with me having no substantial proof besides a hunch? It took FRIDAY all this time to be able to pull any info from HYDRA since the Sokovian base’s data was destroyed. To be honest, the only reason I am even mentioning anything is because I want you guys to know the details, but even if you think it makes sense or it’s just part of Rogers’ personality to believe in the last thing anyone ever says to him, it doesn’t change the fact that we don’t have a way of blocking her mental powers”.

“I am leaning towards ‘Rogers is just that dumb’.” Jennifer shrugged at the half amused, half incredulous looks sent her way.

Pepper, noticing that her mouth was hanging open slightly, closed it and shook her head. “Regardless of… the reason Rogers made her an Avenger, Clint Barton also vouched for her. That's common knowledge so…” she was interrupted by Hope’s voice, full of derision.

“Oh, please. It’s also common knowledge **why** Barton vouched for her; Pietro Maximoff saved his life and that was enough for him to put Pietro's baby sister under his wing.”

Laura and Tony could only wince. To ‘present’ the new Avengers to the world, Rogers had the brilliant idea of making videos of the current Avengers taking on the new recruits. Thor rained praise on Vision, Barton and Rogers did the same with Maximoff, Rogers vouched for Wilson and briefly praised Rhodey’s impressive military career. With Bruce and Tony ‘officially’ out of the Avengers as a ‘punitive measure’ and Thor back on his home world, the roster was in need of filling.

And that was another reason Tony never said anything, primarily because of lack of proof but also because of the Avengers’ need of new members with three of them ‘gone’ one way or another. He rubbed his temples. Like he had said, Tony never thought that Rogers would have let Maximoff on the field if she wasn’t at least prepared, criminal past or not and undeserving ‘forgiveness’ or not…

Thor frowned, “I am familiar with upholding the honor of a debt, however did not the Eye of the Hawk also owe his protection to those he actually swore to protect?” On any other occasion, Tony would have just rolled his eyes at the question that was, at the same time, pathetic and obvious but also billion dollars worthy.

Maria was the one that answered, “Yes, Thor. Actually, this conflict did not involve him at all and, to be honest, I am still a little confused as to why he was at the airport at all.” she frowned. Sure, Maria and Clint were cordial but never really friends. Now, however, she had no idea why in hell Clint would abandon his family – which he had agreed to innumerable stipulations to keep out of S.H.I.E.L.D. files – to interfere with something that had nothing to do with him. Maria briefly looked towards Laura, who grimaced before answering the silent question.

“He did not say anything to me or the kids. One day I came back from town and his things – bow, quiver, uniform – were just gone.”

“Perhaps I can answer that one to some degree,” the attention shifted to Vision, who was unperturbed by all the stares, “While the happenings in Nigeria underwent the normal procedure of being reviewed, Dr. Stark contacted me from London, as I was the only one still in America, to update both myself and Ms. Maximoff about Ms. Maximoff’s situation in Lagos and the possibility of her being extradited, though the Nigerians were willing to wait until the late King T’Chaka presented the documents and defended their case since none of the Avengers involved stepped forward to offer an explanation. However, the public outcry in many countries, including the United States, made it dangerous for her continued presence, even here in our Compound in New York, so I volunteered to stay, as well, despite my desire to be present as a show of support in Vienna, in order to offer more protection.

When Ms. Maximoff expressed a desire to leave the Compound, merely to buy some food, I explained that, because of the delicate political and legal situation, not to mention people’s reaction towards her part in Nigeria, it was not prudent for her to be seen in public. Ms. Maximoff agreed to stay put to quell people’s fear.”

Jennifer, who up to that point had been pressing her lips together as tightly as she could, couldn’t help but snap, “So what changed?” and ignored Carol’s deadpan look.

“The answer to Ms. Hill’s question,” Vision explained evenly, “was that Mr. Barton set off a controlled explosion on the outside of the Compound, which also took out the electricity, so I would be forced to leave Ms. Maximoff by herself in order to check it. I am unsure of what was said between them but I expressed my decision to forbid Mr. Barton from forcefully removing her from the Compound where she would be, if not physically vulnerable, then extremely legally and politically so. Mr. Barton tried to fight me but I quickly subdued him, to which he indicated that, while he was not powerful enough to ‘take me down, she is’, and that is when Ms. Maximoff pu-pushed me through 18 floors,” in a very human reaction, and with the tiniest shaking of his voice, Vision averted his eyes.

Tony was surprised to see that many of their hands also formed fists as Jennifer’s eyes became a worryingly green. Tony himself felt a little odd, hot and cold at the same time, his fists stiff on the table and showing the lines of the Iron Man gauntlets. The billionaire could feel the fascination for his new biology being completely overshadowed by the anger he was feeling. Tony always knew that he felt more protective of Vision than even over Rhodey. It was ridiculous but, in his head, Vision was as important to him as Friday or JARVIS or any of his others AIs and Vision was younger than any of them.

“If I may?” Friday softly but coldly interjected, “As I managed to recover the tapes from that night, Vision is within his rights to withhold or share the information with the public.”

“No. I have no need to share that moment with anyone else besides those that are in this room, but I will explore other options. To continue, now that I can more calmly analyze that night, Mr. Barton's violence against me was either already a part of his nature or he thought that Ms. Maximoff was truly being held against her will. I do not know him so well as to say with conviction which one is the correct answer.” and Vision looked at Laura, then at Tony and Bruce.

They exchanged a look before Tony slumped back but Bruce answer calmly, “I have no idea what is wrong with him. I watched the tapes; the ones in the Compound and from the airport and from inside the Raft. I've always had limited communication with him aside from the occasions where he would come down to the lab levels to demand new arrows or new bows from Tony while Tony and I were working together. But it **_is_** the first time I have ever seen him so…vicious, perhaps, is the correct term.”

“Same.” Tony answered in monotone.

“He has always been quick to anger, but never quick to get violent. Sure, back in SHIELD when… Project: Gladiator happened, we would spar, we still do sometimes but Clint is more likely to break a joke than a nose.” Laura bit her lip.

“Do you think it is possible that Maximoff is also affecting him?” Maria asked them.

Both scientists shrugged and once again Bruce was the one to speak, “It's hard to say. Barton’s temper has always been difficult, just not this bad. Considering that he came back from retirement and ended up in prison, we cannot say for sure.”

Carol exhaled, “Then back to the original issue: how to fend off Maximoff’s mental manipulation? We can go back to the possibility of her controlling the others at another time.”

The way Carol said it made something click for Pepper and Bruce, both snapping their heads to Tony, who stared back just for a second before nodding.

Pepper could only gape and Bruce chuckled humorlessly.

“I don’t think you understand how much I hate it when you guys do that.” Rhodey stared blankly at them.

Bruce turned to him and said simply, “B. A. R. F” and only watched as Jim’s eyes widened and he also turned to look at Tony.

“That thing that you presented at M. I. T.?” Hope, as the only other one who knew what they were talking about asked the billionaire.

“B. A. R. F. was programmed to react to not only stimuli, but a full reconstruction of events and memories and adjust accordingly to other choices taken as to make simulation of other possible outcomes. I have been talking with Charles Xavier for the past eight years. At the beginning it was a means to improve mental disorders like PTSD but, last year when I had another encounter with someone that is capable of mental manipulation, I began to add new algorithms to also address any kind of external triggers.”

“Dr. Stark…but this would solve almost everything!” Hope could only stare in shock. So this was **_the_** Tony Stark; putting a paralyzed man back on his feet, flying nukes into space portals, saving presidents and now…

“It's ‘Tony’ and ‘almost’” he repeated, “Because while B. A. R. F would, in theory, undo the damage done it doesn’t _prevent_ anything.”

Hope bit her lip, but still, the fact that anyone had the ability to even come up with something like that and then be sneaky enough to just present it like it was a tool for psychiatrists!

“Maximoff got her powers from a piece of alien tech. What is the nature of it?” Stephen unashamedly pointed towards Vision’s forehead, making Pepper stare at him in shock and exasperation. So it wasn’t just the facial hair that Stephen had in common with Tony, she thought, predicting the headache to come.

“I do not know. But as I watched you perform your craft, it seems an amalgam of the energy you wield and yet… strangely enough, like a computer that respond to my thoughts.”

“Then, I am willing to also contribute to your tech, Dr. Stark, if you are also willing to share the specs”

“It's ‘Tony’ and…” he rubbed his temples and looked at Pepper for a couple of seconds before nodding, “Yeah, if perhaps you can add your own expertise, we can come up with something that can prevent instead of just ‘curing’. Bruce, Helen and Maya can also help. The biological part that accesses the hippocampi still needs some fine-tuning.”

“On that note,” Hope announced, “I am also willing to share with Dr. Banner and Dr. Cho, not to mention Dr. Hansen if she is inclined, the specs of the Ant-Man technology, so I can improve my Wasp suit and perhaps find a way to neutralize the Ant-Man one.”

At that, Tony couldn’t help but stare a little at Hope, who rolled her eyes, “My father’s opinion on this hardly matters in the face of how much destruction the technology was used for.”

~*~

Natasha was being escorted towards the main office. She knew that she had very little chance of fighting against both Daisy Johnson (a.k.a. Quake) and Elektra Natchios.

Daisy had managed to hold her own against Laura when Barton's wife was still operating under the alias of Mockingbird and Elektra was as deadly as Natasha herself. In other circumstances, Natasha would have been able to sympathize with Elektra, both working for SHIELD in an attempt to clean off the red in their ledger but now, after almost 11 days of confinement with next to no human interaction, Natasha was off her game and vulnerable. She couldn't forgive that.

Finally, after several twists and turns down various hallways, they reached the new Director’s office and Natasha was once again caught off guard at the sight of a very much alive Phil Coulson sitting in the big chair while calmly talking with a leather-clad Nick Fury.


	32. Responsability and Consequences

Natasha barely even noticed Elektra and Quake guarding the door. Her eyes were glued to the two figures she did not expect to find there since one of them was supposed to be dead. It clicked in her head. “You used his death to motivate us!” she accused hotly but both men merely turned an unimpressed stare towards her.

Phil just leaned back and let Fury take this one, “And you are saying that it wasn’t necessary? That all of you would just naturally cast aside all the misgiving about each other and be an actual team? Tell me, how long did that even work?”

She only pursed her lips and refused to answer so Phil, with a grim expression and regret in his voice, spoke in a tone colder than Natasha had ever heard before, “Well, we are already apprised of the situation but, considering everything, Ms. Romanova, you just gave us a more far-reaching way out.”

Natasha flinched at the name and then frowned at Coulson, “What way out?”

His appearance foreboding, Fury stated, “Rebuilding S. H. I. E. L. D has always been the intention. Well, the intention has also been to clean house while we are at it. Either way, we got the results we wanted. Thanks to Phil, we are now a tighter, more controlled organization; more thorough, smaller but with better agents, more efficient. However, as much as I want, we aren’t immune to bureaucracy. The ultimate plan has always been to get governmental approval. That has proven impossible, so far, because of the debacle of HYDRA infiltrating our ranks so we need leverage, a way to prove we can still be trusted.”

Natasha could feel her eyes widening but before she could reach for her batons, Elektra was already on her, her sai painfully pressed against Natasha’s throat, her leg in the perfect position to take the spy to the ground if she moved even a centimeter.

“I thought you said that if I agreed, everything that I did before would be wiped clean!” her voice was strained and Natasha was hard-pressed not to wince when she recognized the same tone that Tony had had after the airport. Betrayal.

Phil sighed but Fury only deadpanned and the older man was the one to answer, “Ms. Romanova,” he ignored the wince at the name, “The very first thing I said when you asked how you could trust us was that we measure what you did with what you could do in the future. Basically, that you are worthier than you are a trouble. With the current fragile status of S. H. I. E. L. D. and your very public betrayal of the wishes of more than 60% of the whole world, you became more trouble than we can handle. The reason we managed to wipe your slate clean the first time was because of your unique skill set. We argued with the authorities that an asset with your training could be a force for good. With your last stunt in Leipzig, we can’t use the same argument because no one would believe that you would actually follow anyone’s authority. People are not very willing to give third chances when the results are dead people and billions in property damage.”

Her ears were ringing. Natasha came here because she believed what Fury had said…but what he just told her rang true. She could still remember the pride and the loathing over the fact that she was at all good at what she did; so good that S. H. I. E. L. D could use someone like her.

“You shouldn’t have come here, Natasha.” Phil sighed but was undeterred, “As it is, you only gave us more moral ammo when the time comes.” He gestured to Elektra and Daisy and both women began to drag her from the room. Her stupor vanished suddenly.

“Wait! What about Clint?” Natasha was distressed to find no change in either man’s expression but the new director answered her.

“Mr. Barton’s actions are still pending review. He fought against a law that was the wish of more than half of the countries of the world, had a hand in destroying almost half a billion dollars’ worth of private and public property and is currently allied with Steve Rogers, James Barnes and Sam Wilson, who are credited with destroying 12 billion dollars’ worth of property in Lagos, Bucharest and Berlin and innumerable other charges of murder, trespass and illegal entry. As it is, they are one step away from being labeled terrorists so his situation is as bad as yours.” Not wanting to discuss anything further, Phil gestured again and she was dragged out.

A few corridors down, Natasha realized that she wasn’t going to the same cell as before. They entered an area with bullet proof glass, cameras everywhere and just a couple of inmates. There were only a couple of cells separating her from another prisoner and she was once again taken off guard. Sharon Carter (a. k. a. Agent 13) was lying down on a cot and staring at the celling with vacant eyes. Her presence confused Natasha but then her eyes widened. Wilson and Steve had their gear at the airport and the only one with access to them was Carter…she was C. I. A.!  Natasha had thought it was weird that Steve and Sam had gotten to Bucharest so fast. Not even she found out Barnes’ location until after Tony contacted her about the mess they made in the middle of the city. What Coulson said reverberated in her brain, _“As it is, you only gave us_ **more** _moral ammo when the time comes.”_

Feeling despondent and helpless, Natasha could only sit in her cot, her knees not supporting her weight anymore, pale and incredulous as she just stared at Carter while the pieces fell into place. They planned to hand them over. Their usefulness was gone and now they are only dead weight. Natasha knew that Coulson and Fury personally cared for her and Clint but that wasn’t enough to risk all S. H. I. E. L. D agents.

Her lips trembled as Natasha exhaled. They were measuring Clint’s and her worth against the others…the current agents, and finding them lacking. No, the spy frowned in concentration, not ‘lacking’.

It was true that Fury once told her that her skills and the high success rate of her completed missions surpassed the atrocities in her past. Clint, in the same position and, therefore empathetic towards her situation, had felt confident enough to bring her to S. H. I. E. L. D instead of just finishing her off like he was ordered to do. He just recognized himself in her. Their situation was anything but uncommon, the newest case being Elektra Natchios.

 _“Everybody deserves a second chance but not everybody gets it. I won’t say that you are lucky, merely that you have skills. We don’t care if you used them for a good cause or not until this moment if, from now on, you are willing to use them to protect people.”_ Phil had been blunt and direct.

…

 _“You are being given an opportunity. I won’t call it a ‘second chance’ but merely a first chance to show that you can do more than just destroy.”_ Fury had been more brutal than Phil but it got the message across.

It had been 11 days since Natasha found S. H. I. E. L. D.’s newest headquarters. The last significant news she had heard was of an Air Force colonel, Carol Danvers, retrieving Tony from Siberia. Natasha thought that this would be it so she went looking for S. H. I. E. L. D. just for a place to lay low until all this blew over. She was taken down, hard, by a woman with green hair. An Enhanced by the way her hands lit up in blue fames.

Her breath stalled. Fury and Coulson were thinking about the safety of the many over the few. Her, Carter and Clint were only three agents that threw their hats in with Steve Rogers over hundreds of others that depended on S. H. I. E. L. D. That… had depended on them. Like **_thousands_** depended on them back in 2014. For the first time ever, Natasha began to think about all the agents still out there, that were unlucky enough to be in the middle of a mission or even retired and happily living the years they’d earned when suddenly all their enemies and the people they’d helped send to prison knew who, where and what they were.

 _The safety of the many over the few_ … Maria and Tony had fine combed all the agents left after the ‘purge’ before hiring them to do what they were already doing.  According to those two, approximately 29.6% of S. H. I. E. L. D. had been HYDRA agents and the reason they had managed to play double agents so well, had stayed hidden and had done this much damage was because those 29.6% were pretty high up in the organization.

But still, that was less than one third. If there were 100 passengers aboard the ship then at least 70 were innocent…

Steve and Natasha were so disgusted, so horrified by what they hadn’t noticed right under their noses that they just sunk the entire ship when there were still people inside just to get rid of the rats. But it wasn’t just doing the right thing, was it? Steve may have given her an order but the reason Natasha obeyed was because of a bruised ego. Just a few days after being free of the Red Room, she saw her abilities as a curse, but a few years down the line she began to feel proud of them.

She was the best and she could prove it. So how had she not noticed HYDRA, one of the closest allies of the Red Room? The same memory assaulted her for the second time that day. Natasha accusing Tony of not letting go of his ego.

~*~

“For what it’s worth, I am sorry for the situation you are in, your Highness.” Rhodey was still getting used to the prosthetics. He could feel himself walking but couldn’t really feel his legs. It was unsettling.

“Do not be. My brother’s actions are his own just as my actions are mine.” The only sign that Shuri looked tired was the shadows under her eyes, otherwise her expression was even and didn’t reveal her emotions.

“Very well,” Rhodey sighed, “we are advancing. Everett Ross is probably approaching the U. N. as we speak.” She already knew that but Rhodey would have appreciated it if it was Tony in T’Challa’s place.

~*~

“Signs with ‘Burn the Witch’, ‘Coward’, ‘Murderer’, ‘Assassin’ and ‘Terrorists’ were being held up in New York’s main streets. It was literally a sea of people. Recent revelations, especially about Ultron and Johannesburg, had also had another effect: many written poems, letters and pictures in support of Iron Man and the Hulk, the protesters wearing their merchandise, Iron Man’s masks and Hulk’s fists, t-shirts and jackets. The general feeling, however, was one single question: why was Wanda Maximoff (a. k. a. Scarlet Witch) an Avenger? Many remembered the videos released on the official Avengers website a year ago and were now questioning why Steve Rogers (a. k. a. Captain America) and Clint Barton (a. k. a. Hawkeye) were so supportive of her membership.

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THAT *beep*?!”

“She should be in jail and the key melted!”

“Did Captain America know this? Is this our hero?”

“Was Rogers HYDRA all along? Why the *beep* else would he be teammates with a HYDRA agent?”

“Seriously? Tony Stark saved us all and THIS is how his teammates repay him?!”

“I recognize him, ok? This is the same guy that tore Bucharest apart. He killed Iron Man’s parents!”

“Why the *beep* did Rogers made her an Avenger? After Johannesburg? The Hulk should have smashed her to *beep*”

“The situation is quickly escalating, especially because no one knows where the criminals are. The people don’t even have a place to protest.  An Avenger spokesperson, Jennifer Walters, known as the She Hulk, assured the people that they were doing all they can to locate the ex-Avengers, in conjunction with the JTTF, and they hope to finally apprehend these dangerous individuals. This is Christine Everheart.”

~*~

T’Challa tiredly followed behind the U. N. representative. His sister was already waiting in the room.

“We concur with the stipulation laid by her highness, Princess Shuri.” They were really rubbing it, the Representative was Romanian. “You have diplomatic immunity, your Majesty, so I very much doubt that you will hear from Romania or Germany or even Nigeria, for that matter, but we are, admittedly, surprised that you agreed with this… solution so easily.”

“I knew the risks and the likely fallout. This way my country will be spared but facing the consequences of my actions has always been the plan, Mr. Skender.”

“I don’t doubt it.” His voice was cold even if T’Challa could imagine the sarcasm in his head.

~*~

Tony was making coffee, just picturing Pepper’s… and now Bruce’s and, surprisingly, Stephen’s disapproving glares. Yeah, well, for the last three days he had sleep for more than six hours… ** _per night_**. Damn, the last time he did that, Tony was 14 years old. The upside was that Jennifer couldn’t say much of anything because she drank more coffee than even he did so she was Tony’s preferred caffeine companion. He could still smile a little as he remembered the first time Bruce had come down to main area of the tower and was met with the sight of his cousin and Tony, each with a cup of coffee worthy of Thor and the bags from hell under their eyes.

 _Inner pat on the back_ , Tony thought gleefully as Bruce’s exasperated look was sent only to Jennifer, to which the Jade Giantess only shrugged and went for more coffee.

Life had been shockingly easier. A weight, physical and mental, had been lifted from his shoulders. That meeting four days ago with the… New Avengers (as Pepper dubbed them) was the first time ever that Tony felt that, if he slept an extra hour, the world wouldn’t collapse. Ok, he was being dramatic, so rephrasing, it was the first time since 2014, when the Avengers had become his responsibility (because, apparently, he was the only one that knew what he was doing) that Tony felt that, if he slept an extra hour, the world wouldn’t swallow them whole.  ‘Them’ being either SI or the Avengers.

Tony sighed. Did he really enable them so much that he was completely unused to competent people surrounding him? As in competence in anything that doesn’t involve fists or guns?

 _“Boss?”_ and look at that, he’d stopped jumping whenever Friday got into his head. Ok she wasn’t exactly **_in_** his head. Tony wouldn’t wish that on anyone. It was more like contacting his head and he needed to stop thinking about that right now.

“Yeah?” he answered out loud.  So much went through his mind at any given minute that last time they had an ‘inner’ talk, Friday had no idea what thought to address. And…it’s not like talking to himself was the weirdest thing Tony had ever done. Actually it was pretty mundane, especially in comparison.

_“Dr. van Dyne is on the phone.”_

“Patch her through.” He kept looking for the huge mug Thor brought with him to drink his ‘ale’.

“Tony? Are you doing anything?”

“Just looking through some SI projects, why?” In recent days, Tony had learned that if he was doing something important, or if he was overworked, Friday would tattle on him to whomever was asking and they would immediately hang up so, with a pointed look toward one of Friday’s cameras, Tony was being truthfully sincere.

“Can you spare five minutes?” she sounded, not nervous exactly, more like …contrite was the only word that fit, to be honest.

“What happened?”

Hope was silent for exactly five seconds before gritting out, “Clint Barton and Scott Lang just showed up at the Avengers Compound’s front door.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, first things first:
> 
> Natasha. This fic is about getting justice so she will get nothing more and nothing less. Two authors that I think really nailed her without 'bashing' her are Rjslpets and Kizmet. Ultimately, I think she is selfish that doesn't make her the devil.
> 
> She IS wrong legally (Leipzig) and morally (the first time with Tony, that evaluation, how she manipulated the Bruce into comming with her, hiding about Tony's parents just like Steve and then the comment about his ego that until now I have no idea what that was). That all being said, she isn't going to jail for any of that besides Leipzig, Pepper recognized that as abhorrent as her actions were, they were just immoral not ilegal...
> 
> I think her knee-jerk reaction whenever confronted with new and especially personal information is thinking about what she could gain from that. One again, not ilegal, just immoral.
> 
> She WILL face the consequences of all that but as far as I can see, Natasha IS capable of recognizing this flaws when they are pointed (or even sublty hinted) by people she either trusts or trusts their judgment/acessment/morals, in this case Coulson and Fury, the first ones to give her a 'chance', if THEY think she is wrong, Natasha will try to analyse why basing that in their actions.
> 
> Rjslpets and Kizmet really nailed it with her. Natasha WANTS to be moral but when the situation is not very clear on those parameters, she will look for the one that she thinks has the 'moral high ground' aka Captain America.


	33. Helpful

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks and thousands of kudos to Fritti13!

_Now this brought a whole new level to the saying ‘other shoe just dropped’._ Tony thought while he pondered what to do. Pepper and Rhodey had promised to take care of it. Together, there wasn’t much those two couldn’t do that he could... well, at least as far as logistics went. Still, it was so weird not to have to clean up other people’s messes that Tony didn’t quite know what to do with himself.

So he cracked his neck and began another SI project. That ought to keep him busy for the next couple of weeks. He also has his last check-up with Xavier this afternoon to see if his new biology was sustainable. Then he had a meeting with the board of directors at SI and, after that, Tony planned to do maintenance on Friday’s circuits before continuing work on his own personal project to revolutionize electric panels for better security. Damn, Tony has been fiddling with that idea for months now but… new arrows, bows, bites, wings, improvements to uniforms, and new tech constantly requested by Widow and Barton; it all kept him barely able to meet SI deadlines, let alone personal projects.

Friday rewarded his decision by automatically turning the espresso machine on and letting a ACDC concert play on the background screen. The peace did not last.

 _“We interrupt our normal programming with urgent news. Once again Ca-”_ Friday changed channels before anything else could be said but Tony saw it. Rogers, Maximoff and Wilson…and what appeared to be a, thankfully, only lightly damaged building in the background before Black Sabbath took over the screen again.

~*~

Laura and Hope were emotionless as they watched through the one way glass as Clint Barton and Scott Lang were cuffed in different rooms. The interrogation rooms had been requested by Romanova and (Hope snorted) designed and paid for by Tony. The proper authorities had been notified and they had agreed that the Compound presented the least likelihood of escape since it was a Tony Stark design. The fugitives would be held until an interrogator arrived and a psych evaluation could be done the only contact is allowed is with their respective lawyers.

“We need to exchange numbers. I don’t want Tony to **_have_** to do anything.” Pepper sighed and sat down in one of the chairs. When Hope winced, her fellow businesswoman was quick to explain, “Not anything against you, Hope. That one is on all of us. I just want to show Tony that he doesn’t have to do everything himself to actually get things done.”

Not wanting to see nor hear anything else, Laura slipped silently away as the other two women exchanged concerned glances.

The blonde walked down the corridor and went to the higher levels containing the social and private rooms. _Hidden in plain sight_. Laura smiled despite herself. Tony Stark didn’t have the training but he had the paranoia. Although the Compound was seven stories high above ground, it was nothing compared to the ten underground. That was public knowledge and no would-be-attackers would expect to find the private bedrooms, kitchen and main living room on the first floor with panoramic views of the property.

Laura completely ignored the yellow police tape surrounding Maximoff, Rogers, Wilson and Romanova’s bedrooms and went towards the farthest door. The rooms were sound proof so it wasn’t until she swung the door open that the music of some video game reached her ears. Lila was listening to her iPod and Cooper was holding Nate in his lap while playing some ranger game.

Now, how to tell her kids that the next time they see their dad is going to be through a bullet proof glass and they'd have to talk to him on a phone?

~*~

_“So the idiot finally showed up, uh?”_

“More or less.” Hope gritted out and turned her back to Scott, who was talking to a German official. She didn’t want to hear anything else. Hope wasn’t as strong as Pepper… who kept perfectly still and listened to every absurd word. Hank huffed on the other side of the phone.

_“More or less?”_

“I told you that they were in Wakanda. Princess Shuri came to us with this information and we, and by ‘we’ I mean Pepper and Colonel Rhodes, came up with a solution for her brother in exchange for the information and time enough for us to prepare.” Hope had to laugh, even in the face of this mess, “Princess Shuri is…very devious. She very much disapproved of her brother’s decision but, at the same time, wanted to protect him from the obvious fall-out. To be fair, T’Challa honestly didn’t know about Ultron, Johannesburg and, consequently, Sokovia. He didn’t even know about the witch’s past in HYDRA. But, considering all that happened in less than a month since Lagos, the fact that he aided them won’t be swept under the rug. Even knowing that, he seemed… well, T’Challa has accepted his role in all of this and I think that, unfit King or not, T'Challa is more than ready to face the consequences of his actions.

Colonel Rhodes called attention to the addendum in the Accords that we planned to fight but now we will postpone the proposal to amend it. The fact is that any signatories legally wronged have the right to be involved in the pursuit and apprehension of a specific criminal.” Hope fought the urge to grimace, “We know that this doesn’t work. Legally wronged or not, there is still the chance of being personally compromised and that can be disastrous, as Bucharest proved. Anyway, since there was Wakandan causalities in Lagos and that the late king of Wakanda, T’Chaka, was also victimized in Vienna, we can argue T’Challa’s case. It won’t be easy, especially with Tony not being involved to throw his weight around.”

Hank ignored the part about Stark as Hope predicted he would, “You plan on adding him to the Avengers, don't you?”

This time, Hope couldn’t help the scowl, “He fits the legal parameters to apply and he certainly has the skills.” Hope sighed and leaned back towards the wall, letting the cool metal press against her back. “Pepper is not happy nor is Colonel Rhodes but it is undeniable that Shuri did us a huge favor, so we’re doing it for her not for him. Either way, Accords or no Accords, the second he is dethroned, T'Challa will face Wakandan Law and his diplomatic immunity won’t cover it but there is still the crow to consider, Shuri is even younger than T'Challa and from what I could understand, right now their family name is being questioned. The others don’t have a problem with this and Tony just shrugged. I don’t think he cares one way or another to be honest.”

This time Hank couldn’t avoid the issue, “Howard was many things but, to tell the truth, I have always been angrier at S.H.I.E.L.D.  When Mitchel Carson revealed himself to be HYDRA, I can’t say I was surprised.” he huffed again but then sighed, “I guess I am not that different from that Maximoff witch. It **_is_** easier to blame the guy that puts himself in the spotlight and purposefully makes himself an ass than at an organization with thousands of faceless agents that might as well be using fake names.”

~*~

Jim could only sigh at the news. Beside him Bruce and Jennifer were taking calming, deep breaths.

“Oh God, what now?” Carol stopped at the entrance of the door to the main area of Stark Tower, a tired expression on her face.

“Princess Shuri got Barton and Lang to cooperate. Not surprising since they have the most to lose.” Jennifer could only sneer, “When an argument broke out between them, Maximoff let out her little red thingy and blew the whole thing up. The great Captain America was seen taking out Wakandan guards who had ‘dared’ to approach Maximoff too ‘threateningly’ while Wilson just stood there looking like a child and, by the news, not even the Wakandans themselves knew about their presence at the _royal palace_.”

The Air Force woman could only stare at them, then at the screen, then back at Jim before deadpanning, “This will end up being our responsibility, won't it?”

Her fellow colonel sighed before rubbing his neck, “Doesn’t everything?”

Bruce watched them before slumping back on the couch. The comfortable leather was a balm to his stiff neck. “How the hell did Tony do all this? He never even asked for help.”

Jim only widened his eyes, an almost smile on his face that was almost painful to see. “I think,” he began slowly, “that it’s a ‘genius’ thing. Thinking that you can take on the world with guts and brains and not even telling anyone that you **are** taking on the world.”

Bruce had the good grace to blush, much to Jennifer’s vindictive smile, shared with Rhodey over the scientist’s head.

~*~

“You sure you guys don’t need my help?” Tony questioned one last time. As much as he would like nothing more than to forget (damn his eidetic memory!) the ex-Avengers, he just couldn't saddle other people with that particular headache.

Pepper sighed on the other end of the line, just knowing what Tony was thinking and, to be honest, she was done with this. They weren’t even his problems to begin with and yet he was willing to take them on. “Yes, Tony. Just stay put, OK?”

“Yeah.” he barely managed to express when she hung up. Completely lost, Tony just wandered into the kitchen looking for that lasagna Vision managed to make. His first successful dish and the synthezoid was so proud. Truth be told, Tony and Rhodey had probably done better with Bunsen burners back at M.I.T but it was still good enough if you put more tomato sauce and cheese on it.

Tony was almost finished when Friday interrupted his musings. He was trying to find something to do next to keep himself occupied since he wasn't in the right frame of mind for any actual efficient work in the lab or workshop. 

“Boss? Dr. Strange and Colonel Danvers would like access to the penthouse.”

He frowned, “Uh, yeah sure.” He had just enough time to change out of his pajamas. Damn, when was the last time he'd worn those? Tony didn’t know he even **_owned_** a pair.

The two got out of the elevator just as Tony was getting back. “Ah, to what do I owe…”

“Jim told me you have unreleased movies. So cough up Ben-Hur.” Carol interrupted with a smile. They knew each other well enough to skip the pleasantries.

A few second of silence before Stephen rolled his eyes, “This was her not so subtle attempt to say that…our talents are no longer required for now so we also having nothing else to do. Might as well share our collective boredom with your own.”

“That does sound less boring.”

“Exactly!” Carol beamed.

“Pepper put you up to this, didn’t she?”

“Exactly.”

“Because she is worried that my, for once, very healthy approach of not giving a damn about things I really shouldn’t give damn about is not going to last.”

“Exactly.”

“…but knowing both of you, you wouldn’t comply with her not-so-subtle nudge if you really didn’t want to…”

“Exactly.”

“…so Ben-Hur?”

“Brought the popcorn!” she held up several packets. It was buttered.

“Well, when you put it like that...”


	34. Close to Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for my amazing editor: Fritti13!!

Clint had no idea what to think about the lawyer. He’d never even met one before now and to be honest he never thought much about lawyers at all. Not when he was a kid with a father with anger issues, not when he was with a circus act, not when he was a mercenary, not when S.H.I.E.L.D caught up to him…

The idea of going into an actual court, facing actual people that he helped put in harms’ ways and depending on an actual lawyer to present and defend him was a completely foreign concept.

 _“Deal with it. There is no longer a billionaire to absorb all the guilt; you are no longer reaping benefits from S.H.I.E.L.D. There is simply no one and nothing to be your scapegoat anymore, Clint. This is what normal people face when they screw up and I think you forgot what it means to be helpless and dependent on actual laws to protect you instead of shooting your problems with arrows.”_ His wife’s words made him think about all the people caught in the crossfire in all those countries…and were now doing the only thing that they could by fighting tooth and nail, through the **_law_** to get justice for their loved ones. They were trusting on others, their lawyers to get it for them…instead of arming themselves and believing that the ‘safest hands are our own’.

Clint barely listened to the lawyer listing the clusterfuck that Cap, Barnes and Wilson had caused back in Bucharest and then Berlin, what Wanda was being accused of by the Sokovians, South Africans and Nigerians and her own part in destroying the airport.

As it was, he could claim plausible deniability on Ultron/Sokovia (Tony Stark himself had no idea about that) but not on Johannesburg since it was on tape that he very much knew what had set the Hulk off. He couldn’t escape the consequence for Lagos, Bucharest and Berlin. The news had covered nothing else…until Vienna, and then they refocused on Bucharest and then on Berlin and then Leipzig. Accessory charges on all those accounts, accessory charges for assault and trespass in Siberia as well as charges of illegal entry, criminal assault, private and public property damages in Leipzig and obstruction of justice, not to mention conspiracy. His best defense was throwing Rogers to the wolves.

It’s not like it was lie, to say that Rogers talked shit about Tony Stark and the Accords and had implied that Stark knew about the Winter Soldiers but chose to do shit about it. Actually he had said something; ‘I need your help to stop a crazy ‘doctor’ from unleashing five other super-soldiers into the world and the Accords stop Stark from helping us’.

“The problem with that approach” his lawyer stated, “ is that the prosecution will ask you what made you think that the Accords would stop Dr. Stark from helping and then you’ll be forced to say that you haven’t read them. I strongly suggest admitting to pigheaded ignorance rather than following Mr. Rogers’ belief that the U.N. is corrupt.”

Clint could only flinch.

~*~

Scott leaned back to put more physical space between him and the very intimidating woman on the other side of the table. Well, as much physical space as the cuffs on his wrists allowed.

Tall, green-skinned and with a scowl on her face, Jennifer Walters (a.k.a She-Hulk) wouldn’t be his very first choice for a lawyer but as his very violent phone call from Maggie had indicated (not that he already didn’t know), it wasn’t like Scott had much choice.

He had yet to hear from Hope and that just…Scott felt disgusted with himself before he even asked and he was pretty sure that Hope would feel a lot worse. He hasn’t heard from Hank yet and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to talk to the older man or not.

~*~

“With that… woman’s… last antic, there is very little chance of our family keeping the crown. The people are beginning to talk about another fight for the title, but this time not only for the right and honor of being the Black Panther but also for the throne.” Shuri didn’t allow herself a single second of weakness, not even in front of her brother. As much as she loved him, neither could deny that they were in this situation partially because of him.

“That practice is archaic, almost as outdated as the king choosing his wife from the Dora Milaje.” T’Challa protested but he didn’t sound strong or firm.

Shuri’s voice wasn’t unkind, “Many would claim the same about an actual ruling monarchy.” She let those words hang in the air for just a few seconds, “There is not much we can do besides bowing to the wishes of the many. As we should have done the second Mr. Rogers stepped through those doors.” She raised her eyes and, although tired, they were steeled, “I tried to advise you, brother. If it was to accommodate your need to make amends to Sargent Barnes and have the support of our people, we shouldn’t have taken the others in.”

T’Challa sighed, “You are forgetting about Mr. Rogers’ insistence in being involved with Sargent Barnes’ care.” but it didn’t sound like a disagreement.

“Maybe,” his sister relented, “but at that time he was unsupported by the rest of his followers. You were still able to give conditions and limits and above all, you could have said ‘no’ to his insane ‘rescue’ plan. In the end, that could only work in their own disfavor. Not even the U.S. is very forgiving of ‘heroes’ that escape prison and keep quiet instead of trying to prove their innocence, just waiting around as if the world was supposed to coddle them.”

Absurdly, the silence between them was almost calming. _The calm before the storm_ , T'Challa thought grimly.

“Mr. Lang and Mr. Barton are in the Avengers’ and U.S. custody, a German officer is liaising with U.S. officials concerning Lang’s and Barton’s part in Leipzig. It won’t be long until the other countries start to demand to question them for allying themselves with the criminals as well. Now that the world knows Maximoff and Rogers’ location, the U.N. is mollified with our cooperation, however, we’ve proved that we can’t contain them. With so many nations wronged, The Hague seems to be the only option.” Shuri ground out.

“South Africa already gave formal notice of its withdrawal and the U.S. withdrew its signature years ago, as did Russia.” T’Challa frowned and his sister could only twist her lips, unhappy.

“Yes. So you see the problem with the most reasonable solution and that is not even counting our own problems with the Nigerians.”

“The Nigerians?”

“Brother,” she rolled her eyes, exasperated, “has it ever occurred to you that the Nigerians didn’t do anything about Maximoff because they thought the Wakandans would have come through for them, via Accords or not?” and without waiting for an answer, Shuri went on, “Wakanda is not universally loved. We spent too long being the only source of Vibranium and not contributing much of anything anywhere. Greed for a country notorious for…using American slang, ‘not fishing nor cutting the bait’ is just one thing father, and now we, have to fight.

Our father was a very cunning diplomat. Of course he had always supported the Accords ever since the first draft back in 2014 but Lagos was used not only by those that supported the document but also by our father. Even with our people affected by the tragedy in Lagos, this was too perfect an opportunity to introduce Wakanda back into the world and what better way than championing a set of laws that 116 countries agreed on and becoming the 117th?  It would also allow us to obtain justice for our people and for the Nigerians and that would only strengthen our ties with them. Unlike with South Africa, we cannot claim ignorance for Lagos. We knew what happened there and who did what.

Besides the external tensions, we also have to consider our own people who were completely unaware of the fugitives’ presence. Do not forget, T’Challa, Wakandans died because of Rogers’ faction of Avengers.”

~*~

“We’ve already postponed the interview twice. Do you have any idea how this looks?” Jennifer could feel her clothes getting tighter, the uncomfortable, borderline painful feeling of her muscles expanding, but that never bothered her.

“I am very aware,” Pepper almost hissed, “but every single time we try, a bigger problem drops in our lap”

“OH HELL, WHAT NOW?!” the lawyer was faintly aware of her clothes ripping and falling apart. Her mind, no longer the calm perfectionist, boiled with the impulse to physically do something and it was almost overwhelming. Her sight turned green for just a few seconds before it was over.

“S.H.I.E.L.D has resurfaced again. They apprehended Sharon Carter and Natalia Romanova.”

This made Jennifer pause, her eyes wide. Absently, she noted that she finally “got it”, the reason Bruce was so attached to Tony. Not unlike Pepper right now, she’d never seen the billionaire even tense a muscle whenever Bruce’s eyes turned green, let alone demonstrate any fear. Jennifer could feel the appreciation she always had for Pepper growing just as she felt herself getting smaller, the room suddenly a little bigger and her ruined clothes hanging from her like a sack.

“They are using the momentum of Shuri ‘convincing’ Lang and Barton to turn themselves in and the fear of Maximoff and Rogers showing up again. It’s not the head, but they **_are_** limbs, and even more interesting than TweedleDee and TweedleDumber.”

The redhead raised an eyebrow but she was too tired for amusement. Pepper could only shrug. In all honesty, she was feeling a little disgusted but she wasn’t so much a hypocrite as to criticize them for it. “They are pulling a Lagos/Accords.”

“What timing!” Jennifer huffed, “And now that the civil suits are beginning to pile up, I’ll try to talk to Vision and Bruce.”

“What about?”

“To see if I can convince them to press charges against Maximoff, for assault. I don’t want to involve Tony in this but he could sue her for harassment, at least, and damage to private property, as well. This would probably clear the air with Johannesburg. One stone and all…”

“On that note… you’ll never figure out just how small the world is.” Pepper leaned back to appreciate the other woman’s incredulity. With Jennifer’s eyes zeroed in on her, the CEO allowed a small smile to form, bitter and sad, “Marlene Stevens is the fiancée of Roy Hamilton. Both were Army. Her last stint made Marlene retire, with all honors and medals for the Warrant Officer. Roy, a Colonel, was on loan from JTTF and one of the casualties in Bucharest. And that’s not the only case. Frank Collins is a retired Navy Captain, the older brother of Justin Collins, newly turned Army Sargent Major, also on loan from the JTTF and shared the same fate.”

“I know the names, too. Military members in the family are hardly uncommon.” Jennifer frowned in confusion when Pepper’s smile grew even more bitter.

“Turns out, Army Warrant Officer Marlene Stevens, who won’t be getting married two months from now, and Navy Captain Frank Collins, who will never see his brother again, were both in Air Force Staff Sargent Sam Wilson’s vet program.”

The CEO waited until Jennifer stopped cursing, freezing shock sweeping through her, “The world is small indeed.”

~*~

Carol washed the bowls and put them away.

          “You don’t need to do that.” A voice interrupted her task, “DUM-E always does that and you’re a guest.”

She turned to Tony, “An uninvited one. Not that you ever did anything about that before…” Carol grumbled before turning back towards the dishes.

She heard Tony sigh a little too loudly and quickly glanced back to see if they’d awakened Stephen, but the sorcerer was still out cold from their Grey’s Anatomy marathon. Or perhaps he was in a popcorn coma.

“We’ll do this **_now_**?”

“Hey, I’ve been holding back for almost a month!” she whispered angrily.

“Hey,” Tony repeated back, “a week ago I was still comatose.”

“I was the one that saved your beaten up ass from being a frozen beaten up ass, especially since no one bothered to tell me how bad this was. Pepper and Jim are too busy for this and, after them, I have dibs.”

“…Does that mean that Peps and Rhodey are also going to do some version of this?”

“You betcha!” finishing with the cups, Carol resolutely pointed towards the conference room.

Sighing again, Tony made a face but complied, “Why do I feel like I’m about to be grounded?”

Carol closed the door and spoke in a normal voice in the soundproofed room, “Because you’re mentally 5 years old…and that being true, I don’t like the no good ruffians you have been hanging around with, young man. Can’t you see that they are horrible company?”

He had to hand it to her; Carol said it all with a completely straight face. Not wanting to give her the satisfaction, Tony just sat down instead of huffing, ignoring the faint buzzing he felt in his head from the tech in the room. Damn, he **_really_** needed to do something about that.

Carol gracefully sat in front of him and sighed, “I will begin with **_why_** you didn’t tell us anything?”

“I just didn’t think it was a problem.”

“Oh yeah, sure. Living in your house, eating your food, using your resources to look for your parents’ killer, demanding your tech, sunbathing while you took care of the cleanup as if you have nothing else to do! Tell me, do they actually even **_own_** their own underwear or do you have to pay for that as well? Oh, and of course, Pepper also told me that, since Widow and Rogers sunk S.H.I.E.L.D, the one paying and protecting the retired agents just happens to be you. Does Barton even know that the fact that his kids are fed and clothed is on you? They were perfectly happy leeching off of you, never mind that for them you are the devil incarnate and all the world’s problems can somehow be traced back to you.”

Tony was unaffected by her anger and Carol wasn’t surprised. Her new abilities notwithstanding, this guy was used to Pepper and pocked Banner with an electric probe regularly just because. “Ok, correction: I just didn’t think it was a problem I couldn’t handle and I will say to you what I said to T’Challa, plus some exposition - I truly believe that the world needs the Avengers. That doesn’t necessarily mean Barton, Rogers, Maximoff and Wilson… and I have no problems with the Ant-Guy, mostly, because he never gave me problems. He **did** give a lot of headaches to Pepper and Hope, though, so that will be up to them I guess.” He glanced to the side before staring back at Carol, who was just beginning to calm down, “And yes, I did pay for their underwear.”


	35. Unquestioned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks for amazing Fritti13!

Sam leaned back on his haunches, completely ignoring the ruckus his… former teammates?... were making on the other side of the door.

Wanda was blowing things up and, at this point, everybody in the whole world knew that this **_wasn’t_** a control problem. Steve was trying to calm her down. It didn’t matter what she tried, not even Wanda, with her Mind Stone’s powers, could dent Vibranium.

To be honest, Sam was just tired of it all.

He was tired of watching news report after news report, finding out about shit that no one had ever told him about. Watching while Steve just fumbled around the questions that he **_should_** have been able to answer and listening to the same bullshit over and over.

 _“People need us. They're smart. We'll be back in no time. Tony is wrong. Wanda is just a kid. It wasn’t Bucky.”_ and endless variations on the same theme. It was like Steve knew nothing else and it was interesting that, in all this time, he had never said a word about the Accords besides his idea that they would ‘tie their hands’, ‘red tape’ or ‘agendas’?

Not like Sam was any better. He grimaced. What did he even know about that document? Ross had delivered them and **_anyone_** in the military just knew what that man was capable of. The Hulk was hardly the first time that he'd acted like a complete power hungry lunatic, even if it **_was_** the first time that civilians had caught wind of it.

Somehow that made the whole thing worse, though, didn’t it? Would Sam have reacted more openly if some U.N. rep had presented them that thing? Some shmuck whose face and name he would have most likely forgotten by the end of the day?

He sighed. Sam was no novice and knew better than to play the ‘what if’ game. What was done was done. The only thing that they could do now was move forward and he was pretty sure that this was what was making him so restless and so angry. They weren’t moving forward.

When Steve got them out of the Raft, Sam thought that the man had a plan. He scoffed; the whole ‘man with a plan’ shtick thing was another bit of propaganda he'd eaten up, wasn’t it? Instead, Cap brought them here, a cage of Vibranium and…that was it. Perfectly content to kick back and watch someone sleeping which, _yeesh_ , now that Sam was actually thinking about it, was kinda creepy.

Every single incident that Sam hadn't known about and confronted Steve with had revealed a hopelessly delusional guy with the reasoning depth of a spoon. And if that wasn’t a kick in the nuts, Sam didn’t know what was. Captain America…the man with **no** plan didn’t sound as nice.

Sam sighed again.

~*~

“Yes, sir. We understand perfectly.” A few more words were exchanged before Rhodey hang up.

“What's the verdict?” Hope cautiously approached.

“The U.N reached an agreement. The new members will be held in Wakanda. Chad already agreed and Princess Regent Shuri has already locked them up. However, no one can give a guarantee of a peaceful solution, not with how Maximoff is screaming obscenities and trying to break free. So we'd better prepare for a fight.”

Hope matched his scowl. The second Shuri took command, Wilson, Rogers and Maximoff had been locked up and the ex-Avengers wing of the palace shut down with Vibranium on all sides, windows and walls. Neither Rogers nor Maximoff would be able to break free. To be honest, if it wasn’t for the tiny little issue of how to deliver food, the rest of the world would've been perfectly happy to just leave them there…not that the Wakandans would be very happy about that but it was still nice to picture.

Pepper was taking care of Barton and Scott and Hope wouldn’t even try to think about Carter and Romanova, that was Jennifer’s mess (at the Jade Giantess’ insistence). Hope still shuddered a little. She wouldn’t want to be in Romanova’s skin when Jennifer got her hands on the spy. Jennifer Walters was fiercely protective of her cousin and, since Dr. Banner liked his privacy, and everybody (as in **_everybody)_** remotely connected with the whole mess was being scrutinized, he'd decided to lay low. That included not bringing up charges, so Jennifer was taking the wheel for him on this one. Let’s just say, too, that she wasn’t happy about the reason that Bruce had snapped and run after Sokovia.

Hope leaned back. The little witch may have been the one to keep Dr. Banner away, but she wasn’t the last straw. She could understand, too.

They'd been teammates, Romanova and Dr. Banner. Never mind the possible romance (or whatever) that was now beyond dead and buried. Romanova knew how it affected Dr. Banner to not be in control and had still triggered his transformation…just like the witch. If the spy had just told him at first that they needed his help, that they needed the Hulk for this… Dr. Banner wouldn’t have abandoned his team. He would have fought alongside them, just like he'd done countless times before, even though it made him feel deeply uncomfortable, raw and exposed when he was the Hulk.

Hope scoffed. Words weren’t exactly the forte of those that followed Rogers, though, were they? Why talk if you can just push your teammate down a literal hole? She bit her lip as she pictured the doors of Tony’s workshop, which had been closed ever since all of the morning news networks had broadcast the reports on Barton and Lang's return and a statement was released from the Wakandan palace about the witch's 'temper tantrum'. _Or a metaphorical hole_.

Rubbing her tensed neck muscles, the businesswoman turned to Rhodes, “What now?”

“Stephen and Carol have already signed and agreed. I don’t know about Thor and Bruce. I am going either way. Tony has already modified War Machine so I can operate it even without the prosthetics. I'm not used to them anyway. Laura is helping Pepper with her husband and Jennifer just dropped everything the second she heard about the deployment”

“I will be going as well.” Hope didn’t get offended by his inquiring look. She knew that it wasn’t Rhodes questioning her ability to fight but if she was willing to do so.

“Yes, well, this is an all hands on deck type of situation. I'm not Rogers.” he almost spat the name, “He thought that he would be able to stop five super soldiers with just Barnes, six if he'd actually thought it through and considered the very likely possibility of Zemo triggering Barnes. **_I_** don’t mind a little overkill and I have no problem with ‘wasting resources’.”

“Neither do I.” Hope nodded approvingly but frowned at his contrite look, “What? What is it?”

“I'm going to be the mission’s leader.”

She nodded, agreeing that, among all of them, Rhodes, a highly decorated Air Force Colonel with decades of training and experience, was the one most suited to command. She didn't understand why he sounded so uncomfortable, until he cut a glance up to her eyes.

 “But the U.N. also commissioned Tony for this.”

~*~

Jennifer carefully pulled on the purple and white one piece, zipping it up and tugging on the boots and gloves. She let the ever present pulse inside her take over but, this time, there was no sound of ripping clothes. Instead, she was comfortably settled in the StarkWare suit. Same tech that Tony gave to Bruce but with improvements. Fire and bullet resistant, even energy blasts couldn't put a hole through it. Stark's proprietary material compound used the cloth’s flexible properties for resistance. Bruce had to replace his every few missions but this one was the 2.0 upgrade, finished just before the whole Civil War mess. Jennifer knew that Tony had one for Bruce, as well, just in case. The lawyer closed her eyes briefly and felt for the billionaire. He'd never lost hope that one day Bruce would come back.

Regardless of how much she loved Bruce and how far she would be willing to go for him, Jennifer couldn’t say that he'd never let her down, and this was one of those times. She could understand why he'd left but she couldn’t forgive the fact that he'd just saddled someone else with the consequences of his actions. This was different from the other times. Johannesburg or not, this wasn’t a question of him losing control – control that other people took from him – this was him, as Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, making an informed decision and ditching everything because he didn’t want to face what he had created.

First things first. Bruce needed the protection his cousin, as a lawyer and as She-Hulk, could give. But after all this was solved, they would be having words.

Bruce **_was_** going to be a part of this ‘New Avengers’, and damn if Jennifer was going to let it come crashing down because of ‘team dynamics’. She was no spy; she wasn’t going to let the members themselves tear the team down.

No more things left unsaid. No more exclusion because of some kind of perceived personality flaw. Jennifer hardly, if ever, saw herself as a glue to hold any group together but, if she had to do it because no one else would, then she would gladly take this job by the fucking ears.

~*~

“You don’t have to do this. I am not trying to offend you in any way but when was the last time you've been in a fight?” Pepper could only stare as Laura put on the white and black suit that had become common in the last few weeks. The former S.H.I.E.L.D agent tied her hair back and put her guns in their holsters.

“Yes, I have to. I won’t sleep peacefully if I don’t.” With one last icy glare towards her husband, Laura stepped out.

Mockingbird would fly again.

~*~

Stephen, Carol, Jim, Hope, Laura and Jennifer didn’t expect him. It was clear by their faces, but Bruce strode purposefully on to the Quinjet and sat down in one of the seats, carefully bucking the seatbelt.

He didn’t meet any of their eyes but his voice was firm in a way that it had never been before, “Tony is my friend, and it’s about damn time that I act like it.”


	36. Work and Rest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooorry!!! Trully sorry for the delay but I do have an explanation: college!
> 
> Now, what I can do is offer this: shorter chaps faster or longer chaps but it will take me longer to update...
> 
> Sorry...
> 
> Anyways, 1000000000 kudos for the amazing Fritti13! That has been editing every single chap O.o you're amazing!!
> 
> PS - I HAVE been reading the amazing comments!! I just don't have the time to answer them T.T

Rhodes couldn’t say that he was surprised at the sight that greeted them once they landed in Chad. Tony Stark in all his glory, a three piece suit that cost more than most people’s annual earnings and red tinted sunglasses, completely needless due to the fact that it was almost 9 pm in Chad. The Colonel couldn’t help, however, but to mourn that one little Tony Stark trademark, that ever present and ever infuriating smirk, accompanied by hands in his pockets and a nonchalant slouched posture acquired in his teens that no one – whose opinions he actually cared about – ever called him out for. Instead, Tony was tense, his shoulders back and his lips in a thin, straight line.

“You know… when you said that you would be coming…this wasn’t what I had in mind.”

“I am here on behalf of the U.N. and as a member of the New Avengers as Tony Stark…not Iron Man. They never specified.” He shrugged and got into the limo with Wakanda’s flag on the hood. Sighing a little, Rhodey clumsily followed him, wincing at the weird non-feeling he got from the prosthetics, and gestured to the rest of the Avengers to take the other cars.

“Where are Thor and Vision?” the billionaire cut him off before Rhodey could get a word in.

Giving Tony an unimpressed stare that clearly said he knew what the other mas was trying to do, Rhodey answered him nonetheless, “Thor agreed to confront Maximoff but then took off for Asgard, or whatever. He left another scorch mark, by the way, and he dragged Vision with him.”

“Any ideas?”

The airman sighed, “You know that trying to predict what the hell Thor does when he leaves the planet is just asking for a headache, right?”

“Last minute call from Space Pirate?” but Rhodey only shrugged again.

“The U.N. is being very sympathetic, especially since Thor revealed the details about your parents and Barnes. No one would kick up a fuss if you had decided…”

“I know and I don’t intend to get myself involved with the… with them.”

“So what **_are_** you doing here?”

 

“Sightseeing.” At Rhodey's blank look, Tony just rolled his eyes and stared out of the widow. Rhodey found himself once again thinking about all the perfect openings for a joke at his expanse that Tony simply ignored.

He couldn’t believe he was even thinking it, to himself at that, but even if he was to suffer through a headache later, Rhodey kinda hoped that Tony would (always knowingly, the brat) insult some high ranking politician or military officer with his usual even voiced snark…especially when it was a high ranking politician or military officer that could make Rhodey’s life hell.

Rhodey's thoughts were interrupted by the quiet voice, nothing like he was used to hearing, “The U.N. **_requested_** my presence here, but they never specified what for. Regardless of my…personal problems, I have to show, at least for now, that I am willing to put all that aside when people’s safety is at risk. I am willing…but... perhaps not this soon or about **_them_**. So, while you and Carol, and perhaps Bruce, since he can’t possibly be comfortable anywhere near Maximoff, take care of the legal side, Laura, Jennifer and Hope will try to open a line of communication.”

The airman couldn’t help but scoff, “Yeah, because ‘talking’ worked so well last time. At this point, only God’s intervention (with a capital ‘G’ at that) would make Rogers **_consider_** listening.” Against all Rhodey’s expectations, Tony genuinely smiled a little at that. He was instantly suspicious, “What?”

“Nothing, you just made me think in something I hadn’t considered.”

“Uh?”

“Call it a hunch. Mine are usually right.”

“‘ _Usually_ ’ being the key word.” Rhodey bit his own tongue not say that the last time Tony used one of his ‘a hunch’ excuses, he ended up an Avenger. This time around, the overgrown billionaire kid was _so_ not getting out of his sight.

~*~

“It was the right thing to do!” Steve was frustrated by the lack of fight. The U.N. representative didn’t let any interruptions change his voice or expression. The man merely waited until there was silence again to keep listing the many and various crimes, civil and federal, that they were being accused of. While the UN had nothing to do with the many families that were grieving, the fact that there were SO many of them didn’t exactly endear the last three Avengers in the eyes of the world.

“Mr. Bram? I will take over from here. Thank you for doing this, even with your workload.” Jennifer didn’t bother ‘shirking’ or changing out of her purple suit, the She-Hulk was out for the world to see.

The man just waved, “It was an interesting experience. I gotta say, I've met people who've denied having done anything or that claim that everything they did was right, but to say that they were doing it to protect the very people they put in danger and refusing to believe otherwise is certainly a first on my resume.” He shook his head incredulously and left the room with the bullet proof glass in the middle.

On the other side of it, Steve Rogers just looked ready to scream his arguments again when She-Hulk (he remembered her alias!) just held up a hand. “I am here on a dual assignment: first, I am representing the Avengers and, second, as a lawyer for Vision Stark-Banner and Dr. Robert Bruce Banner. Both are pressing charges against one Wanda Maximoff for both physical and psychological assault, respectively. Since she denied forms of communications and delegated her legal representation to you, Mr. Steven Grant Rogers, I am forced to relay the information via you. As the legal representative of the Avengers and a member myself, I hereby revoke your membership and publicly announce  that the entity known as the Avengers will no longer give you and your allies any support or succor. That includes, financial, political or social backing and/or aid. That is all that I came here to say.”

Jennifer turned to the nearest camera and called, “Knock them out!”

Several things happened at once. Some kind of gas rapidly spread through the room through the ventilation system and Steve, without his shield and surrounded by Vibranium, had no chance. Ditto for Sam Wilson in the other room. A medium sized box was quickly pushed into the same room as Wanda Maximoff. Shrieking in pain, the young woman tried to call her powers but the red mist, for years at her beck and call, no longer answered to her. They were sucked into that weird box and, not long after, she no longer could feel the familiar eldritch energy beneath her skin. The last thing she remembered before darkness overtook her was the box firmly shutting close on its own, a strange red light, the same shade as her powers, shining through the lid before it, too, was snuffed out. The box trembled and then stood still.

 

~*~

“You knew this would happen.” Rhodey accused under his breath as he watched Thor come back with his usual ‘burn the grass with pagan symbols’ way. Vision was with him and both were holding a…to be honest Jim didn’t know what other name to give it besides ‘jewelry box’. Intricate and beautiful and… still a box. A pretty big one, but still…

“Oh, Rhodey, you give my imagination way too much credit. Not even in my wildest dreams did I imagine them coming back with a bejeweled coffin.”

“Do not be silly, friend Tony!” Thor had a 1000 watt smile on his face. “This artifact is much too small for the odd habit Midgardians possess of burying their kin.”

The airman could only sigh, “…sure, Thor. So may I ask… what is it and why did you bring it here? You do know that right now most…Midgardians, was it, are not too fond of anything alien-y.”

 “Oh yes, I know and I do not fault them,” the demigod answered very seriously, “but this, hopefully, will atone for a mistake that the Avengers didn’t prevent.”

~*~

“And you’re sure it’s going to work?” Jennifer eyed the… box warily.

“Do not worry, Miss Walters. I analyzed it myself and volunteered to prove its affects. It will, in theory, also work against the Scarlet Witch’s powers.” Vision gracefully lowered the box to the ground.

The lawyer turned to look towards the other women. Hope had a grimace on her face while Carol was just looking at the… thing with the same incredulity Jennifer felt. Laura merely looked at Thor much the same way Jennifer usually saw her looking at her kids; exasperated indulgence. Bruce exchanged a glance with Tony, then just shrugged, clearly not interested in how they planned to deal with the criminals.

“Ok!” Most of them jumped when Rhodey clapped his hands together. “Whatever this… thing is, I'll take Vision, Bruce and Tony to get some coffee while you girls and…demigod make sure that the… ex-Avengers know their situations. Everybody OK with that plan?” he asked, mostly to Shuri and T’Challa, who had just been made aware of their moves a couple of minutes ago.

~*~

“The coffee here is kinda weird.” Tony tipped his cup a little to peer inside as if that would solve the mystery as to why its contents were strange.

“It tastes like grass, you can say it.” Rhodey took the first sip and promptly pushed his own away. Since Vision didn’t eat or drink and Bruce asked for tea, the colonel could only stare as Tony just drank his practically in a single swallow as if the scalding liquid was a tequila shot. “Sometimes I can’t believe the way you drink…anything.”

“Most things I drink can’t just go to waste! And weird or not this is coffee!” the billionaire said indignantly.

“That was not what you said about Dunkin Donuts.” Rhodey sighed and leaned back in his chair. Inside the coffee shop the heat wasn’t so unbearable but still... “So? What will you guys do now with your… leave of absence?”

Bruce wriggled his hands before answering, “I want to start publishing my work again. Even after my membership in the Avengers prevented the military from coming after me, the work I had to do as Bruce Banner for the group kept me too busy to focus on any of the research I was actually interested in, and when I did have free time, there was a ‘Code Green’.”

“That spot at Stark Solutions is forever yours whenever you want it.” Tony said nonchalantly while gesturing at the waitress for another coffee, which earned him a disgusted look from Rhodey.

“You said so… many times” his fellow scientist smiled gratefully.

Vision waited to see if Dr. Banner had anything else to add before explaining his own plans. “Dr. Strange’s joke last week got me thinking about my own options outside of the Avengers. I do not want my skills as a warrior to solely define who I am.”

“Wait, wait, wait! Strange was joking! You’re not saying that you want to be some kind of new ‘Martha Stewart’, right?” Rhodey could only stare at the synthezoid, praying that his secret love for Master Chef wasn’t going to be ruined by Vision’s trial and error shenanigans in the kitchen which, knowing Tony, would turn whatever Vision wanted into the culinary worlds version of ‘New York Time’s Best Seller’.

“No, Colonel Rhodes. However, I am interested in participating in classes in the hope that I can improve under a more professional eye.” The airman let out a quiet sigh, completely ignoring the way Tony turned his head to him, just knowing the billionaire was mocking him behind those sunglasses. “What about you, Dr. Stark?”

“If Pepper pinches herself any more than she did in my last meeting with the board of directors, she will need a skin graft.” Tony slumped back and adjusted the red-tinted glasses that they all knew were hiding some pretty spectacular shadows. “I actually managed to complete my SI work **_within_** the deadline. That hasn’t happened since-”

“2014?” Rhodey drawled in a sarcastic tone and, at Tony’s raised eyebrow, he replied, “Yeah, heard that…repeatedly, from Pepper. She was worried that Extremis changed you more than just physically.”

“No so much Extremis as the work I put into…my actual work.”

“Figured, and told her as much.”

“So…after Jennifer does her thing with Maria and, following my therapist’s advice, I will be taking a prolonged vacation.”

Thank God that Rhodey wasn’t drinking his weird tasting coffee then or it would have ended up all over Bruce, who was sitting in front of him. As it was, he choked on his own spit.


	37. Clear as Water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fritti13, you're amazing as always!!
> 
> I LIIIIIVE!!!!!!!

“So there will be no need for the supercoiling system. That is what makes the Arc Reactor unique. No energy wasted on heat, 100% efficiency.” Tony finished the speech and waited for the applauses to end before turning off the screens.

“That was…”

“Surprisingly loyal to the cards?” Tony deadpanned.

“I was going to say boring.” Jennifer smiled unrepentantly as she followed him out of the room.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t have my coffee yet.”

“Well, I don’t have coffee but my interview just went online and, boy, internet doesn’t forgive.”

“Or forget.” Tony whispered and sighed, a little comforted that someone else was dealing with the mess but, just knowing that he wouldn’t be able to help himself and he'd end up researching just what was happening, adding another layer of worries to his already large load.

~*~

“What made you come out to the public and begin to use the power of the ‘She-Hulk’, and why now?”

“For the first couple of years it was a trial and error on how to use my powers. I had to be careful of the amount of strength I put into holding a coffee cup, let alone trying to do anything as delicate as saving lives. To be honest that didn’t even pass through my head when I couldn’t even figure out what made me ‘turn green’ in the first place. I didn’t even know how **_not_** to be a danger, let alone be so arrogant as to just think that I could be a hero. Back in 2012, Dr. Stark figured out my connection to his new teammate and, Tony Stark being Tony Stark, it didn’t take him long to figure out that ‘green runs in the family’. He offered the same equipment and chance to control my abilities that he did to my cousin, Dr. Bruce Banner. So far, it has been a year now that I have been confident enough to go ‘into field’, so to speak.”

Those that knew who she was jabbing at couldn’t help the smirks or the flinches, depending on the individual.

“Was Dr. Stark’s plan to invite you to be an Avenger? Is that why he offered his help?”

“Actually, as I said, Dr. Stark offered help in order for me to **_control_** my powers so I would no longer be a danger to those around me: meaning what made me transform, how much pressure I could put onto any object or even a hand-shake or a hug. There was no combat related experience given. The decision to become the She-Hulk came just a few months ago. I wasn’t sure about becoming an Avenger and no official invitation was ever issued. However, given the current circumstances, I believe it was the right choice.”

“Has your perspective of the Accords changed now that you are a part of the Avengers?”

“Of course not. As the newest spokesperson for the Avengers, it is my duty to know my colleagues’ opinions on everything that affects us as a group just as well as I know my own.”

“The Accords began because of the tragedy in Sokovia. Since most, if not all, of the original Avengers were unaware of Wanda Maximoff's involvement in Ultron’s creation, as the new spokesperson, what do you think of the clause in the Accords that states a ‘gifted’ individual may be given the possibility of working his or her sentence off by being an Avenger in service to the common good?”

“There are two things that I have to correct here that the public seem too often to believe in. The immediate answer is: that particular clause began, not with Wanda Maximoff and her willing participation in HYDRA, but with Clint Barton (aka Hawkeye) and Natalia Romanova (aka the Black Widow). Both had criminal antecedents that should have ended in death sentences, depending on the state, and yet it **_is_** undeniable that their skills could have, and have been, invaluable to a mission’s success and, consequently, innocent lives saved. That said, as recent events prove, there are discussions that need to take place if such morally compromised individuals with such a… history... have the capacity to truly change and become earnest contributing members of society, knowing that it means rights and duties. That said, I think that, in on a case by case basis, it can exonerate individuals that genuinely regret their actions.” Jennifer smiled. To the common onlooker it appeared to be charismatic, but there was a bite to it that only those who knew her, or who were trained to pinpoint it, could recognize. It clearly showed exactly what and who she was thinking about.

“And your second correction?” another reporter asked after the round of applause stopped.

The lawyer once again smiled in the same way, the glint in her green eyes having nothing to do with the Gama radiation in her blood. “About the Sokovia Accords, that particular document did **_not_** begin with the tragedy in Sokovia.”

“It was clearly named…” but Jennifer didn’t let the man finish.

“The name of Sokovia was chosen because it was an unprecedented disaster involving enhanced individuals, but **_anyone_** can go online and see on the U.N. website and see when the first draft was posted. 2014.”

There was an embarrassed pause. Clearly no one had ever thought of that but then, how many people regularly accessed the U.N. websites for the jolly of it? When the silence had stretched enough, She-Hulk was once again speaking. Her demeanor professional but her voice indicating that this was something she'd been waiting for.

“The Sokovia Accords, despite its name, didn’t begin with Sokovia itself. The first time someone **_mentioned_** a document like this was after Dr. Stark revealed himself as Iron Man, but the U.N. only put it on paper, and began to officially draft it, after SHIELD’s fall back in 2014. Ever since Black Widow and Captain America sunk SHIELD, the Avengers have been operating without any kind of oversight. They were not submitted to any governmental faction, there were no laws that covered them and they didn’t even listen to the ones that were in place anyway. Actually, the idea would have been at least tossed around a little more when Tony Stark announced to the world that he was Iron Man in 2008, but he is a public figure.

Beyond that, he knew exactly what he was doing. He knew how to be Iron Man without legal repercussions. Did he have authority or any legal rights to wage a private war against terrorists in foreign sovereign soil? Of course not. But Dr. Stark covered all the legal bases, years before the Avengers. He knew what to do to not piss off the political and military leaders of the countries he was pretty much invading. He also made sure that, after he accomplished whatever it was that he was after in that particular country, he involved the media in it so he could sway public opinion as well, revealing not only to his fellow American’s, but the world’s citizens, what it was that he was trying to accomplish: destroying or retrieving and disposing of the weapons he or Stark Industries had designed and produced that were being illegally acquired and, more often than not, were landing in the hands of terrorists. That, along with Dr. Stark’s very large margin of success in his endeavors, created a pressure on the governments. The overwhelming support he received, thanks to his efforts to make amends for the situation his company helped create, and complete transparency to them, discouraged politicians in any efforts to lay hands on him.”

“But the same can’t be said for the Avengers as a group?” one the reporters was clearly confused by this and Jennifer shook her head in what appeared to be sympathy.

“The very first time the Avengers were put together, it was a global crisis of unprecedented magnitude: an alien invasion, something that no one would ever be able to predict. Before Thor literally fell from the sky in 2011, we thought we were alone in the universe, with only a few bacterial life forms many light years from us and so, all the damage, all the loss of life was put on the Chitauri and Loki. Suddenly, the world had this ideal group of heroes. The Avengers were no longer just an idea and, because of their actions in New York, they were acclaimed by the world at large **_and_** were also sanctioned by the US government. Many people, even from the countries whose leaders did not agree with the Avengers Initiative, just turned a blind eye to them, much like they did when Dr. Stark became Iron Man. They had even better reasons, after all. The Avengers had yet to operate overseas, a team comprised of Americans operating in U.S. Credibility and legal authority: the ideal situation.”

“So why now?  Why talk about the Accords? Because of Lagos?” there was a collective wince among the journalists when the implied sentiment of ‘just’ was expressed in the man’s voice. Thank god this wasn’t live. Jennifer just ignored it and answered the question.

“The Accords, perhaps not as complex as they are today, actually had two other opportunities to be presented that would have had almost as much sway as the tragedy in Lagos. Dr. Stark and Dr. Banner, however, were the ones that diffused the situation, even if completely unknowingly. First, once SHIELD no longer existed, there was no longer a higher power that monitored the Avengers’ actions. Their activities were the definition of vigilantism.

If it wasn’t for the fact that Tony Stark, because of his own experience and knowledge, knew well enough whose toes not to step on every single time they crossed sovereign borders, the military personnel in the Avengers, Army Private Rogers and, later, Air Force Staff Sergeant Wilson and Colonel Rhodes, would have been court martialed after their very first mission outside of U.S. borders. Since they were no longer affiliated with any organization officially acknowledged by any government, the civilians, which included Dr. Stark himself, Dr. Banner, Ms. Romanova and Mr. Barton, would have been charged and sent to prison until a trial with competent authorities could judge their actions, and later Vision Stark-Banner and Ms. Maximoff as well.

Dr. Stark hired many ex-SHIELD agents to do the same job they did when SHIELD was active and Dr. Stark, himself, knew how to run the Avengers without the legal repercussions. Since the Accords were in the early stages and legal tensions had dissipated, there was no reason and no means for a document that didn’t even exist yet to be presented. But, even with Dr. Stark taking responsibility and funding the Avengers, it didn't change the fact that now this group had no oversight, something that many countries found unacceptable but were willing to overlook if the Avengers didn't act on their soil.

Second: both Dr. Stark and Dr. Banner willingly stepped down from the Avengers following Johannesburg and Sokovia. Today we know that it was deliberate on their part, instead of the assumed corrective measures enacted by Steve Rogers, the assumed leader of the Avengers. They absorbed the blame that was not completely theirs, if at all, partially due to ignorance of Wanda Maximoff involvement in Ultron’s creation and partially because Dr. Banner, himself, was not comfortable with her presence after Johannesburg. There was nothing he could say, or do, as Steve Rogers had already vouched for her and even invited her to the facility known as the Avengers Compound before he could even give his own opinion on the matter.

After the Hulk was manipulated and set loose in a heavily populated city, Dr. Banner didn’t feel confident in participating in battle as the Hulk. Given this situation and, since removing himself from the Avengers meant removing himself from Ms. Maximoff’s presence, Dr. Banner, along with Dr. Stark, agreed to take the full blame for Johannesburg and Sokovia and distance themselves from the Avengers. In fewer words: they allowed themselves to be scapegoats in the perfect ‘two birds with one stone’ scenario.

And finally, the third occasion: The U.N. used the momentum caused by the events in Lagos, Nigeria to rectify the Accords. It is not as simple as stated. It wasn’t only the consequences that were used as arguments, although deaths of innocent people and the extensive property damage were very strong ones. However, the missions’ parameters deviated from the ones usually employed by the Avengers and it wasn’t the first time.

Dr. Stark was completely transparent with his actions as Iron Man after revealing his identity. After every mission, every time he put the suit on, Dr. Stark made sure to let the public know what he was trying to accomplish and what he **_had_** accomplished. He apologized when he failed and always respected the self-imposed limits that he operated under since building the armor in the first place.

The same method was used with Sokovia and Johannesburg; Dr. Stark explained his and Dr. Banner’s part and took full responsibility for both occasions for the aforementioned reasons.

In Lagos, no one stepped forward and explained what happened, there were no interviews, reviews or even a letter sent to the local newspaper, let alone to the governments and people affected. Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, the one that the populace was crediting for the destruction and deaths caused, did not address any of the families, friends or governments and no word from Steven Grant Rogers was forthcoming as to what measures would be taken to ensure that what happened in Lagos wouldn’t happen again. More training, probation period, reviews of actions, a change in command, nothing.

And, unlike Mexico, New York, Greenwich and, to a certain extent Washington, there was no governmental body to fall back on or, in the last scenario, to blame. It is a horrible reality in this world but, just as Private Rogers seems to look at casualties as simple numbers on a chart, it is possible to talk your way out of situations that end up with people dead, but none of the Avengers involved in Lagos, and subsequent allies of Steve Rogers, ever did.”

“So, you believe that the U.N. would have postponed the Accords presentation if Steve Rogers’ faction of the Avengers had followed the usual routine, so to speak?” one journalist asked tentatively.

“I honestly wouldn’t know. After all, such a document has been in the works for almost two years now. Who would be so foolish as to believe that the Accords were written in less than a month and was ready to be approved by 117 countries?” Jennifer dutifully chuckled along with the crowd of reporters, a few more awkwardly than others. The lawyer being fully aware of just how many ignorant rumors and conjectures had been floating about since the debacle in Lagos.

“So, it is just coincidence that a couple of weeks after Lagos, the Accords were being rectified in Vienna?” W _ell, this one is a little more shrewd_ , Jennifer almost smiled, genuinely impressed.

“Of course not. The Accords gained momentum because of the lack of transparency, accountability, explanation, formal reviews, heck, even just a simple apology for what happened in Lagos. For the ordinary citizen whose only source of information is television, radios and the internet, all **_we_** saw was this group, whose members possess biological or technological enhancements, illegally entering Nigeria, wreaking havoc, destroying public and private property, participating in a firefight that resulted in multiple casualties and then leaving without a single word to anyone.

And only now, almost two months later, we learn that Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers actually thought they were tracking a lead to the possible location of James Barnes and, mid-way to Nigeria, they learned that it was actually Brock Rumlow who was possibly targeting the local police force. They were wrong twice over, because the criminal, Brock Rumlow, also known as Crossbones, was actually trying to steal a biological weapon, a fact that was only discovered after the attempt was already in progress. That is also information that we are only now learning. I am the CLO of Stark Industries and I only found out about that two days ago. This, in turn, left the U.N. with no choice because of the pressure that all countries affected were pushing for.”

~*~

“Wow that was brutal.” Carol was physically incapable of holding back her smile.


	38. I Thought I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fritti13... I love thee!
> 
> Anyways, if all goes according to plan... this fic will be finished until mid-June tops, perhaps earlier if I manage it >D

Jennifer sighed. Lang was a fangirl. There was no other word to describe him and, she frowned, Jennifer had no idea what to make of Barton.

“What can you do for them?”

Looking up, Jennifer was met with the concerned but cold eyes of Laura Barton and Hope van Dyne. Fangirl or not they still had people in their corner, as underserving as those idiots were. These strong and independent women were still fighting for them and, history told Jennifer, they wouldn’t even understand how much Hope and Laura did for them.

“To be honest, there isn’t much there. They still have to answer for aiding and abetting Rogers, Wilson, Barnes and Maximoff, especially since the investigation in Lagos, Bucharest and Berlin hasn't been concluded yet. Saying that they were in the airport because ‘Cap said so’ isn’t going to help anyone and, even if we take into account the possible threat, the fact of the matter is: they just trusted Rogers’ word for it without consulting anyone else. They got into Leipzig illegally and Lang and Maximoff are being credited for most of the damages. Barton’s case will get worse if the prosecution gets wind that he didn’t sign the Accords because, in his words, ‘he was retired’. After all, if he was retired because he didn't want to sign the Accords, then how come he wasn’t retired at the airport too?”

Laura was silent for just a few moments, “So all they can do is throw themselves on their swords.” It wasn’t a question.

“Basically. Because, as far as legal parameters go, all possible arguments would revolve around treating them as 12 year olds that gladly and willingly had their decisions made for them.”

“People are beginning to ask about Rogers using the Avengers to defend Barnes under the guise of fighting the Accords.” Jennifer understood the unspoken question in Hope’s quiet voice.

“Yes. Our hope is to focus on the fact that the fight at the airport, and their support for Rogers, was based on the fact that they genuinely thought that there was a threat to the world and not because of their distrust of the accords or because Cap’s bestie was in ‘danger,’ since neither of them even read the damn  thing and the later wouldn’t make sense. The truth won’t help much. All that's needed is for someone to ask them why they thought that indiscriminately fighting a possible threat with possible criminals and terrorists was the best way to go about handling the “threat”. They are adults, not children that are forgiven for blindly following an adult’s word.”

~*~

Scott turned off the TV with a sigh. The Accords, the Accords, the Accords. People weren’t talking about anything else. But the problem wasn’t even the Accords, was it? The problem was the whole Iron Man vs Captain America bullshit. The Accords were more than two people but no one, Scott included, wanted to read the bureaucratic, complicated political stuff. It was just easier to chalk it up to who was more popular: Captain America or Iron Man? Pick your side. He sighed again.

His perspective of the Accords? Scott couldn’t even say if his attitude had changed or not from before to after he became Ant-Man because… well… he hadn’t even read the thing. For him, it wasn’t about the Accords and it certainly wasn’t about Cap’s friend. Actually, Rogers hadn't even said anything about Barnes. He'd only talked about the other Super Soldiers in Siberia, but Scott couldn’t blame the people for saying that Captain America’s ‘friends’ or ‘allies’ were trying to keep Barnes from being sent to prison.

Before Wilson had called, Scott didn’t think much at all about the Accords. Since they were still practicing and training and supervising the possibilities of the Giant-Man, Scott was benched until further notice. He remembered Hope and Hank commenting that the Accords would affect only those that decided to operate outside of their respective countries, that the document was mainly about a vigilante from, say, Canada, deciding to follow some ‘enemy’ into US. Well, he winced, more like American vigilantes, one Sokovian, and one Russian deciding to follow their enemies everywhere.

Either way, neither Hope nor Hank looked very surprised by the Accords and now Scott knew why: it had been in progress for the last two years and not the last two months like **_he_** thought and, in retrospect, that was really dumb. A single case of grand theft takes almost a year before a conclusion can be met… almost two thousand pages of U.N. document in less than 60 days? And approved by more than 60% of the world? Yeah, no.

No one cared about a supposed threat to the world when there was no threat at all; it was just the machinations of the newest villain on the block that never planned to destroy anything anyway. Well… his real target was the Avengers, not the general populace. The fact that people ended up in danger, sans in Vienna, was all on them, the Avengers themselves, wasn’t it? And yet… even if Vienna hadn’t happened at all, could Scott really say that Bucharest was only a result of Vienna putting Barnes in danger? That Steve wouldn’t have endangered anyone if it wasn’t for people gunning for his buddy?

Scott didn’t know them. Not really. So could he really give his opinion on this?

“I thought I was saving the world.”

~*~

For Clint, it wasn’t about the Accords or even about Barnes either. It was the panic in Cap’s voice when he called with his assertion that Wanda was supposedly being held prisoner and that was the deal breaker wasn’t it?

“I was retired.” he found himself repeating again. The pounding in his head had been getting worse and worse ever since he left Wakanda. “I thought they needed me.”

~*~

“Tony actually designed them for new trainees that still don’t have a handle on their powers but… I guess they can be loaned out until a more permanent solution can be reached.” Pepper bit her lip but handed over the silver briefcase with the SI logo on it. Inside nestled a set of cuffs designed to look like unisex jewelry but would damper someone’s enhancements.

“Why not use them on Maximoff?” It wasn’t an accusation but Everett Ross winced at how rough his voice was. How long had it been since he'd slept again?

“First, because they just got out of our factories. Tony designed them only a mere three months ago while he was pushing for a support system for trainees, or those that simply wish to return to their normal lives. Since these would be for, more or less, public use, the project had to follow the normal production process. They work on biotech or purely biological enhancements, however. What was done with Maximoff didn’t affect her anatomy. It was more…for lack of a better term, an alien or magical enhancement, hence Thor’s little casket was used after being tested against Vision and approved by Dr. Strange. There are two sets here. One for Rogers and the other for Barnes, should it become necessary. The others are all dependent on tech of some sort. With this, and some luck, we hope to put an end to people’s fears.”

Nodding in thanks, the Deputy Director took the suitcase.

~*~

Sam changed channels again but She-Hulk’s interview was in a non-stop loop everywhere. He gave up, finally, and stopped on some show that was at least **_not_** defacing some kind of Captain America memorabilia.

This wasn’t much better though. It was hard to face the fact that he was a mindless follower just because he was starstruck, and now the truth was being rubbed in his face.

A woman was stridently haranguing the news audience about the clause regarding enhanced or skilled individuals with criminal record being able to apply for membership to the Avengers. He hadn't read the Accords. He'd taken one look at Thaddeus Ross’ face and he knew immediately that it was a bad idea. Sam hadn't known about that clause and, on principle, he disagreed with it and would even use it as an argument to fight against the Accords but, without it? Natasha was a Russian assassin, Clint was a mercenary, Wanda was a neo-Nazi terrorist and even Scott had a grand theft charge under his belt. They would all go to jail… like normal people would if they'd done a tenth of what they'd done and normal people didn't have an Enhanced friend to break them out. Normal people commit crimes and pay for it.

This was the system. One that he had agreed with… once upon a time. What made him change his mind?

_“This document should have begun back in 2008 but no one cared because Dr. Stark was turning himself inside out to use loophole after loophole and public opinion to enact justice with his own hands. He was after terrorists, cleaning up the mess that SI had a hand in but was_ **not** _solely responsible for. But people seem to forget that Dr. Stark is just one guy. Did we really expect him to be able to reason with a goddamn neo-Nazi? One that was being coddled by Captain America? Well, most of you are satisfied with making this whole mess about Iron Man and Captain America. I say: the UN should have begun the draft in 2008. Then, in 2014, there would be_ **a** _system for people like them to work under. This is more than just two people! And I take responsibility too! I am an American citizen and, just like Captain America did with Maximoff, I turned a blind eye because of what they were supposed to be and not what they_ **are.** _”_

“I thought I was following a hero.” Sam found himself murmuring.

~*~

“What do you want to do about Sergeant Barnes?”

“Nothing.”

“Ms. Potts?” Vision stared worriedly at her.

“Let things take their natural course. Tony won’t bother with him beyond the justice he wants for his parents, and I will follow his lead. I respect the boundaries he has set for himself.”

Vision nodded in agreement before turning a concerned look toward Jennifer. “I know that you mentioned myself and Dr. Banner as a means to ‘drive the message home’ but I have decided to follow a legal suit against Ms. Maximoff.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“An analysis of history told me that the legal process often lets the criminals free and leaves the victims suffering, from lack of closure, from more pain. I think that, after seeing so many countries rallying and being given a legal identity and all the rights and duties that come with it, perhaps it gave me the faith I needed to believe that the system I chose to be a part of will protect me as well.”

“… Do you mind having a talk with Bruce?”

“I will impart my decision to Dr. Banner and I believe that, after he sees how people are willing to fight for justice and not just revenge, he will also want to face Ms. Maximoff and Ms. Romanova. May I hire your services as a lawyer, Ms. Walters?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

~*~


	39. Trust Exercise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fritti13... you rock!!!

Carter still doesn’t get it. That was Natasha’s thought as she watched her trial. Because SHIELD had gotten their hands on Carter first, they were sacrificing her first. It made sense to use the ‘she was the trigger for the Civil War’ argument while cultivating the image of a tighter, smaller, theoretically ‘better’ SHIELD.

To be honest, Carter was doing most of the job for them. Natasha just couldn’t believe that she was comparing a woman who'd fought tooth and nail to be viewed as a professional who got recognized on her own merits, with Clint Barton. They have been friends for as long as she can remember, but Natasha was well aware how much of a loose cannon Clint could be.

 _“I would like to present exhibit A?”_ The prosecutor played a video taken at a small café in Vienna. It displayed Sharon Carter clearly giving a file to a poorly disguised Steve Rogers. _“Did that file contain classified information about the whereabouts of Sargent James Buchanan Barnes?”_

 _“Yes.”_ and for the entire world to see, Sharon raised her head high and Natasha couldn’t help but shake hers.

“Ms. Romanova?” Her court issued lawyer was very no-nonsense and straightforward. He didn’t try to sugarcoat anything and Natasha found herself appreciating this… even when she still had to grit her teeth at the name he insisted on calling her… the name the world was calling her.

At the end of the day, that had been her doing. No one would be calling her ‘Romanova’ if the very secret SHIELD files hadn't been dumped in what was pretty much an imitation of Wiki Leaks.

“Yes, come in.”

“I've just finished talking with Samantha Philips and Aldrik Ebner, the American and German U.N. representatives, respectively. I don't have good news. Because of your… history and the fact that Stark Industries’ CLO and new Avengers spokeswoman, Jennifer Walters, has publicly withdrawn her political, legal and moral support, we will no longer be able to secure you as a possible asset for the Avengers. Originally, we had hoped to use the clause that is provoking the most reaction from the public at the moment: working your sentence out as a positive law enforcer.

The precedent created by yours and Clint Barton’s past was a legitimate one. It is undeniable that your respective years of service were fundamental for the safety of thousands lives. However… you signed the Accords, Ms. Romanova and then, in your first sanctioned action after that, not only did you let two of three main targets escape, which resulted in the life altering injury of Colonel James Rhodes, but also resulted in the hospitalization of Dr. Stark. And then you took off so as not to face the repercussions. As it is? We will be lucky if the prosecutor only focuses on your actions, and the consequences of those actions, in Leipzig instead of trying to draw fire to your past as the Red Room’s 'Black Widow'.”

The lawyer sighed at the pale woman. She hid her feelings well, but there were not many people who could control their blood flow. He shook his head, “And that is only Germany’s claim on you. A civil suit, from a very powerful source, just crossed my desk.”

“What? Who?” Her first thought was of Tony but, so far, the billionaire had been unusually silent and out of the spotlight. He was laying low, aside from a few statements now and again, and those only about the Accords, never about the Avengers or even the New Avengers.

The man looked completely blank, his voice even and indifferent, but Natasha could detect a hint of incredulity, his body angled toward the door as if he wanted to run out of it. Something told her that it wasn’t because of her. “Dr. Robert Bruce Banner is pressing assault charges against you on Sokovian soil because you pushed him into a three hundred foot fall.”

~*~

With Maximoff supposedly a baseline human once again, there were many people that would've liked to test how much of her power was left. Fair enough since, nowadays, they weren’t exactly willing to take chances with anything alien, Thor or no Thor.

“I understand the need to verify how dangerous… Enhanced wise, Ms. Maximoff is. However, no one is willing to risk it and I am **_not_** about to risk my employees’ minds and physical health against the likes of the Scarlet Witch. For all I know, she will turn their heads inside out and convince them to build a Chimera to destroy the world.” The words were bitter, almost childish, and yet no one could dispute them. Hank Pym disconnected the video call.

“Does anyone wanna try Reed Richards?” The Italian chairman only received incredulous looks for his troubles.

“We are trying to **_prevent_** more catastrophes, Sir.” The tiny, but stern, Japanese chairwoman muttered, valiantly trying to fight off a headache. She **_really_** didn’t want to be here but, as an ‘uninvolved party’ she could, in theory, provide a neutral opinion. So, here she was, on other side of the world in the New York U.N. headquarters that, to be honest, looked exactly as Dr. Stark’s had once described it: a giant and shiny domino piece.

New York was loud and its bright lights and its citizens’ inability to sleep did remind her a little of Tokyo. Her musings were cut short when the blue rug of the main meeting room inspired her to think of another solution to their little ‘Scarlet Problem’.

“Does anyone have the contact of Dr. Hank McCoy?”

“The former American ambassador?”

“Charles Xavier is rumored to be a very powerful telepath.” That made her fellow councilmen pause.

“I don’t know. Dr. Jean Grey was under his tutelage and we all saw how that turned out. How many times does the Golden Gate Bridge have to be destroyed before those students, or **_friends,_** of his are satisfied?”

“Let’s not be too hasty. Professor Xavier is also the only one to successfully build a base for those with… abilities... and to teach them proper control.” The Canadian chairwoman was also tired but not willing to let another 'Berlin' happen.

“Golden Gate Bridge.” the Romanian representative calmly repeated.

“There are no technological solutions. Ms. Potts was gracious enough to provide a set of bracelets to nullify Steve Rogers’ abilities but, short of contacting Victor von Doom, I don’t see anyone else with a ‘normal’ solution for Maximoff should the one provided by Thor prove insufficient.”

“That's not even the only problem. Court appointed lawyers are almost fleeing from the Maximoff’s case. They won’t touch it. Scientists and doctors aren’t the only ones that are afraid for their minds since no one can scientifically prove that she no longer has her abilities. Nor do they know how to analyze that…casket. As things stand, her trial will continue to be postponed and that's not going to make anyone happy. The South Africans and Sokovians are almost foaming at the mouth and Nigeria is like a coiled snake just waiting for the perfect strike. The issue doesn’t stop there, either… what court has ‘dibs’, so to speak? The Hague is out since the U.S. and South Africa are no longer members, even with Sokovia and Nigeria wanting Maximoff there.”

“Either way, for my country and Germany, the ‘bigger fishes’ are Rogers, Barnes and Wilson.” No one could come right out and say that the Romanian chairman **_wasn’t_** compromised but, considering what had happened, they would be hard pressed to find representatives from Sokovia, Nigeria, South Africa, Romania and Germany that weren’t pissed as hell.

They were lucky that, in this instance, the members of this rotation only included Romania, Italy, Japan and Canada. The German representative would've also been there but, unfortunately, he was still busy recovering after the Winter Soldier broke out in Berlin.

The poor guy had been in talks with Dr. Stark about the conditions in which Wilson, Rogers and Barnes could be released - since they were either Enhanced, an Avenger or both - when the whole thing had come crashing down. Fortunately, nothing that was putting his life in danger but he was still in the hospital.

“What about if we let Dr. Strange and Vision into court to ensure the jury, judge, witness, lawyer and prosecutor’s safety?” the Italian chairman offered.

“What about the court?” The Canadian woman once again pointed out the other major issue, aside from Maximoff’s powers.

“We let in the civil suits first, until we reach a consensus with the U.S. and South Africa. Perhaps they can introduce an exception in this very much unprecedented case for the Hague.”

“Are you proposing that **_we_** suggest to our respective presidents to let the families stake their claim before the countries?” the Romanian representative looked like he didn’t believe his ears.

“Actually, three more civil suits against Wanda Maximoff were just issued.” Hitomi Sakamoto was still staring at her cellphone, reading the newest notification, “Dr. Robert Bruce Banner and Dr. Anthony Edward Stark are pressing charges for psychological abuse and coercion and Mr. Vision Stark-Banner is suing for physical assault.”

“Again, are you honestly expecting us to let the civil suits take the-”

“I am putting on the table a possibility to alleviate the tension and, at the same time, buy us more time to think of a solution. If we don’t at least bring some results back, there will be riots on the streets.” The Italian young man, the youngest there by far, took a deep breath, knowing that it would be a low blow but willing to do anything to stop walking in circles, “Don’t pull a Captain America, Mr. Petran. ‘Compromise’ is the whole core idea that was butchered and is what brought us here in the first place.”

The Japanese chairwoman sighed again and leaned back in her chair, putting the most distance she could between her and the furious Romanian man who was rapidly becoming a vivid shade of red.

How was any of this the U.N.’s job? But she'd made a commitment to her country to organize an infrastructure so that the Enhanced could operate as they claimed to.

More specifically, so the Avengers could be the heroes they claimed to be and, unfortunately, legally and officially or not, Maximoff was considered a former member. Whose asinine idea was that anyway? And just **_how_** Tony Stark had managed to keep that woman from going on a rampage without being driven mad for a whole year was beyond her. She had been working on Maximoff’s case, and her involvement with the Accords, for a little less than a month and was seconds away from throwing all the papers in the air and going home.

~*~

“The case of The People vs. Mr. Steven Grant Rogers is officially closed. Mr. Rogers was sued by 32 individual Nigerian families. While Wanda Maximoff was certainly the focus, many military veterans called attention to Ms. Maximoff’s inexperience and the fact that Mr. Rogers and Ms. Romanova were her trainers and, theoretically, his superiors. With the recent apprehension of Steve Rogers (a. k. a Captain America), new information has come to light and a formal review could finally be conducted. It was concluded that, while Ms. Maximoff’s negligence caused the deaths of 12 Wakandans diplomats and 17 Nigerian citizens, the mission was under Steve Rogers’ command, which led to a total of 32 counts of manslaughter in the second degree and 340,000 American dollars’ worth of destruction of private property. With justice attained for the victims in Lagos, new charges are being brought by the Romanians for another 53 civil suits in the civilian deaths that happened during the Bucharest incident. The lineup won’t stop there, of course, but until a solution that pacifies all involved countries can be made, at least the innocent civilians can begin to heal. Terry?”

“Thank you, Kate. In other news, the former, and now reinstated, organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D turned over two key players in the so called ‘Civil War’. Ms. Romanova is already facing accessory charges by the German government and the same can be said for her actions in Nigeria, while Ms. Sharon Carter’s actions directly led to the tragedy in Bucharest, and subsequently the fight in Leipzig and Colonel James Rhodes’ injuries. Yesterday, Ms. Carter was sentenced for Grand Larceny in the first degree for the theft of the famous Captain America’s Vibranium shield, which has an estimated worth of approximately 70.5 billion dollars, and the EXO-7 Falcon Wings, which has around three million dollars’ worth of proprietary, dedicated hardware. Both patents belong to Stark Industries. The company is also in talks about reutilizing the space previously known as Avengers Compound to be used as a new research facility for the interns once the legal matters can be solved.”

The other ‘rogues’ are being held due to complications in the logistics. Due to the many wronged countries and the civil suits piling up, Staff Sergeant Samuel Wilson will be in court in a week’s time. He is being temporarily held, along with former S.H.I.E.L.D agent Clinton Barton and Mr. Scott Lang from said Avengers Compound, while waiting for their respective trials to begin regarding their actions in Leipzig. Elsewhere, with the only guarantee about the block in her powers being an Asgardian casket, the U.N. is still trying to find safety measures against the Scarlet Witch.”

~*~

With a satisfied smile, Pepper asked FRIDAY to turn off the screens.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.wired.com/2014/03/whats-mass-captain-americas-shield/
> 
> Now, in Avengers Assemble (it is a animated series) season 3 episode 17, 'Panther's Rage', T'Challa states that a tiny pebble (more or less the size of a quarter) of vibranium is worth 20 million dollars... now a quarter weights 5,67 grams, and according to the geek of the geeks website I found (the link), Cap's shield weights approximately 43,9 pounds, that is more or less 20 kg...
> 
> Doing the math, it would mean that thing that he was basically using as a frisbee has the estimation of more than 70.500.000.000 (70 billions and half dollars)... probably less since the 'pebble' didn't look big enough to be a quarter but still...
> 
> Just as a curiosity, Tony Stark's personal networth is estimated to be 150 billions... his company is at the rank of 90 billions.


	40. Lost Boys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I wouldn't know what to do without Frtti13!

He slowly opened his eyes and, feeling the restraints, immediately went back to his training. He lay motionless, pretending to still be unconscious so his captors would reveal themselves, his eyes half-closed and intent but his expression never even twitched; he was better than that. Slowly, painfully so, the memories came back and now he understood the weird feeling on his left arm. Or, to be more precise: non-feeling.

“We know you are conscious, Sergeant Barnes.” her name is Okoye. The one that shadowed the king.

“Why am I awake?”

“His highness, T’Challa has made a promise and has now fulfilled it.”

“He found a cure?”

Okoye didn’t bother to answer the obvious and Bucky couldn’t help how his shoulders slumped. For the first time since he could remember, he felt relief.

“This is Dr. Bruce Banner. He is the one who found the source of HYDRA’s control over you.” the man to her side was…mousy, to be honest. Not very tall, his shoulders a little hunched, but his expression was closed and his eyes were intense.

“Scans found several micro-neural-transmitters implanted in your brain. They were found during a routine medical examination to see if your cryogenic status was sustainable. Further non-invasive tests confirmed that the neural transmitters connect directly towards your frontal and parietal lobes. The frontal lobe deals with attention, motivation and short-term memories as well as being your primary motor cortex, which controls voluntary movements of body parts and, thus, the reason HYDRA was able to physically control you. The parietal lobe deals with, among other things, sensory input, which explains your high pain tolerance. The temporal lobes were left untouched, however, and it answers why you were able to briefly break control after seeing Mr. Rogers, since that part of the brain deals with visual memories and emotions.”

Bucky concentrated on breathing. The words made sense but…he always thought HYDRA had done something to him... to the man he was before. To know that it wasn’t conditioning, at least not really, was…he didn’t know how to feel.

“How did they do it?”

“It’s actually not that hard. Considering the time they were fabricated, they are actually very advanced and very small. All HYDRA had to do was inject them into your bloodstream. Not to the path that leads to your heart…”

“The one that leads to my brain.”

“Exactly, the carotid artery, and then it was a question of monitoring their movements until they reached the desired area and…hook them up. They are held with a very simple magnetic system that uses you brain’s natural synapses.”

“How do we get them out?”

“Brain surgery.” Well, this Banner guy certainly didn’t mince words. Bucky didn’t know whether he appreciated that or not.

~*~

“Sir! Sir!” Everett suppressed a groan.

“Yes?”

“Word from Wakanda” Oh, God, anything but this. He swore that if he never heard the word ‘Wakanda’ again it would be too soon.  “Barnes accepted the solution.”

“Did he, now? Did someone talk about the ‘later’ to him?”

“Ah… She-Hulk is currently dealing with the logistics to form a new team of Avengers in EU so…”

“So ‘no’. Great, does anyone know when Danvers will be available?”

“She's booked out for two weeks, but Vision seems to have finished the paperwork dealing with his legal identity before pressing charges.”

“You want to sic someone who is pretty much Stark’s kid on the killer of Stark’s parents?”

“Er…no…?”

Everett sighed and pressed his left temple, “Ok, who else wouldn’t get squashed?”

“Dr. Banner is still on site.”

Ross barely manage to summon an incredulous expression, was he surrounded by idiots? “Yes. But only if there are absolutely no other options. We don’t need the Hulk smashing Wakanda.”

“Right. Ahm, perhaps the k- former king, T’Challa?”

That made him pause, “Wakanda has always been very discreet…their new resolution of opening borders didn’t change much of that. I don’t know if T’Challa…I don’t know his current situation and standing. He would be a good choice especially now that President Ellis has agreed to send Rogers and Wilson to be tried at the Hague.”

“Sir? What about the other… Rogues?”

“What about them? Maximoff and Romanov are not U.S. citizens and, therefore, not our problem. Lang and Barton will only be tried for their actions in Leipzig and for escaping prison which…that was really dumb.” the last part was muttered.

What were those two even thinking? Neither verified any information before illegally trespassing across borders, attempting to steal private property and then destroying a substantial part of an airport. Granted, the destruction was more Lang and Maximoff than Barton, but once they were temporarily in the Raft while investigations began, they decided to skip off into the sunset with Rogers.

Everett had to smile a little. After Hill and Walters tackled the press like sharks in bloody waters, they'd nitpicked every single misunderstanding that had been floating around, from the Ultron mess to the absurdity of ‘wrongfully imprisoning Americans without due process’, yeah right. He snorted. Even after Bucharest, the Romanians were still willing to just allow Wilson and Rogers to sit pretty and sip coffee while they (meaning himself, Stark and his battalion of lawyers) tried to sort the whole thing out. Not even half a day later, Everett was staring at a destroyed airport. What were people expecting them to do? Put them in another conference room? Oh no, they would be put in the only place that guaranteed they wouldn’t escape until a review could be conducted, investigations concluded and lawyers contacted. Even the pettiest of criminals were placed in jail until a hearing could be arranged.  How did one handle enhanced individuals who could escape a common jail as easily as someone putting a fist through a wet paper bag?

Didn’t they realize that, by escaping the Raft, they only provided more ammunition against themselves? They became the perfect scapegoats, not only to Ross but to all those that feared Enhanced Humans and not even Stark would be able to say shit about any of this after they broke out because… what could he have possibly offered? Money, even a lot of it, could only go so far.

~*~

Tony adjusted his new systems so the repulsors were even more silent. The flight felt different too. Before, Tony felt like a pilot. He knew how to drive a SUV, a sports car and even a T Model, how to pilot ships, helicopters, airplanes and jets. Now the sensation was as if he **_was_** the jet. He had yet to dare going beyond Mac 3. His first test of the Iron Man suit flying capabilities aside, Tony was taking it slow…if only to avoid looking at the scowl on Bruce, Strange and Cho’s faces. They only tested the flight, everything else, including the fight aspects and weapons, was being postponed until they'd sorted and amended the Accords. (Lying low, like some were unable to do).

He was slowly getting used to it, though. Having Friday and the systems upgrade in his head instead of hearing it, the HUD display in his eyes instead of the helmet, feeling all the weapons inside his skin and the thrum of the Arc reactor that seemed to encase his heart. So much for getting rid of the thing. It was a little creepy, actually, but since Tony was surrounded by people that had seen much weirder or were expecting it like - businessmen, militaries and doctors - no one batted an eyelash. That didn’t blind the businessman to the fact that the glow of the Arc Reactor made it possible to see his lungs, trachea and the darker shapes of his ribs, which was a little spooky. It was like a kid with a flashlight covered in a sheet…but the sheet was his torso. Yeesh.

And yet…he wasn’t freaking out as much as when he first got the Arc Reactor in his chest, driving himself mad with precautions so no one would even know about its existence, let alone see it. Now, Rhodey and Pepper only asked about how he felt and barely even looked interested. Ditto with Carol and Jennifer. Actually, the latter two were much more interested in his opinion on how to go about the mess surrounding them (that was thankfully becoming smaller day by day) than in his shiny, new heart. Helen and Bruce had already poked it (and him) in all the ways they could think of. Strange stared at it for two ridiculously long hours and making a vocal record of things to investigate later (Tony made a mental note to think of something for Strange's hands, the least he could do since the guy helped to get Tony back to his feet) and Maya, after absently sparing a glance to his chest, had wandered off with Hank McCoy to discuss how Extremis would affect his chemistry and nervous systems, as if they had forgotten he was there. Now that Tony was thinking about it, he'd lost a perfect opportunity to cover his chest like an affronted damsel to make them all roll their eyes. Damn it.

He smirked a little. He just wasn’t in the mood to joke these days and it was with some surprise that Tony was even considering it. Was that all that he needed? Some space from the headaches? Some actual help? He snorted. Pepper was always saying that he took on a lot more than he could handle but, if he didn’t, who would do it all? At least now he had an answer.

Gracefully landing on the roof, the billionaire still grimaced at the weird experience of seeing and feeling the armor folding itself and sinking **_into_** his skin, into his bones; the lines of the armor slowly disappearing from his skin, which in turn turned softer and pinker and actual skin-like instead of a metal alloy of red and gold (that he was itching to, but forbidden from, testing. Damn you, Bruce. It wasn’t like he was going to cut himself!).

He knew that it was more of a question of willing the armor (his body now) to disappear faster or slower and yet, as weird as the sensation was, Tony still liked to see the process. Call it morbid curiosity, like the way Tony still watched medical procedures, or even TV shows about them, even if that made him remember back to getting a Masters in Neurobiology just so he could convince those imbecile teachers of his at MIT that he knew what he was talking about when presenting DUM-E as a rudimentary A.I.

16-year-old-him had the grand pleasure of throwing up after being invited to watch a brain surgery. Damn, that thing still gave him nightmares. That was actually why Tony left most of the more practical side of bio-inclinations to Bruce. He was more than capable of learning it but…he still cursed the former Dean of Harvard for not giving him a single warning besides ‘you have to watch this!’. On the upside, Tony threw up **_on_** the Dean, so…

Shaking his head, he made his way towards the door leading into the building. Without making even a single gesture and with a brief flash of blue from his eyes, Tony unlocked the electronic lock and made his way to the elevator.

Calmly waiting, and wincing just slightly at the way he was invading their privacy, Tony accessed the tech in the house to see who was home and breathed a sigh of relief when there was only one person. The one he wanted to talk to.

He knocked on the door and suppressed a laugh with all his might, even if he couldn’t do much against the trademark smirk, when a gawking face greeted him.

“Hey, Underoos. Sorry for not contacting you sooner”

~*~

“S’Yan is the name of the new King of Wakanda. He is Shuri and T’Challa’s uncle and former regent when T’Chaka died and during the time T’Challa was…pursuing Barnes.” Hope commented lightly.

“Yeah. He lost the title of Black Panther to T’Challa in a fair fight a few years ago and gracefully stepped down once T’Challa came back to Wakanda. He was also blissfully unaware of the fact that his nephew was harboring fugitives.” Rhodey rolled his eyes from where he was closing the personal folder on this S’Yan.

“He contacted Jennifer a few days ago, too. We have reached an agreement about T’Challa. He will be benched until proper training can be conducted and he is still in talks with his parliament about his position in Wakanda. There will be a lot of discussion about the title of Black Panther too. The people agree that S’Yan is the best choice for king, at least on such short notice, but they **_want_** Shuri as their protector. Trust or not in the ruling family being shaken, blood still counts a lot for them, but Wakanda as a whole also agrees that reparations need to be made to the ‘outside world’. Don’t look at me like that, that’s what they called us. Anyway, so the idea of having two Black Panthers, one that would fight for the world at large and one that would fulfill the whole of Wakanda’s guardian was tossed around. Basically, it’s been a right and left wing fight with the more traditionalists on the opinion that two Black Panthers is absurd and desecrates their religion versus the other faction arguing that, this way, the borders would be open with minimal fuss and tensions would dissipate with a Wakanda providing a more active representative to the rest of the world.”

“That sound reasonable.” Rhodey shrugged, but the businesswoman snorted.

“I thought so, too. S’Yan is trying to convince the rest of his people but… they are still really angry. Tradition aside, T’Challa seem to have broken some taboo by not only bringing outsiders to the core of their country but three of the six had a hand in the death of Wakandans, and one of those three waved around quite a big chunk of stolen Vibranium, their dearly held sacred national treasure. They seem to think that T’Challa becoming the ‘other’ Black Panther, while redeeming himself to the rest of the world, is not going to absolve him of the wrongs he committed against his own country.”

The colonel sighed at that and closed his eyes, “That also sounds reasonable.”

“Yeah. Fortunately, S’Yan is also a very skilled politician. He told me that he would try and subtly arrange it so this would appear to also be a form of…exile so to speak. T’Challa would still have political immunity but S’Yan hopes that this will calm things down.”

“So for now, what is the verdict?”

“T’Challa (a.k.a The Black Panther) is listed as a reserve member of the New Avengers while a formal review of his actions in Bucharest, Romania is under progress. To which, he will serve community service on an international level under the jurisdiction of the Sokovia Accords and a panel of the UN, consisting of seven rotational members plus three Avengers representatives.” Hope carefully recited the official notes before her shoulders drooped, “Look, I met the guy. He seems genuinely remorseful about his…disregard for public safety in Romania, and has admitted to…being blinded by his goals.”

“…You do know that this whole thing makes him sound disturbingly like Rogers, right?”

~*~

“First of all: I'm sorry, Peter.” after making sure that the teenager's unusually attractive aunt would be out for the rest of the day, Tony sat on the living room couch and forced Peter to do the same…after taking pity on the poor teenager who'd stumbled over his own feet and stuttered about something to drink while offering Tony a seat at the same time.

“What? No! I'm… I'm the one who should be sorry…” Peter almost bit his own tongue when Dr. Stark raised his hand in the universal sign to stop.

“No. I had my reasons for essentially dragging you into something that had nothing to do with you, but they pale in comparison when I think about the danger I put you in. Doesn’t matter if you are used to it or think you can help or have been putting yourself in danger anyways.” Tony foresaw what was about to come out of the teen’s mouth when it opened in protest.

“Peter what I did was… unforgiveable. Not only to you but your aunt as well. You were a tremendous help and believe me when I say that we couldn’t have done half of what we accomplished if it wasn’t for you”

The teenager felt himself gawking and blushing but he really couldn’t help it, the older man almost smiled at that but, instead, simply said “Just say ‘you’re welcome’”.

“You’re welcome.” Tony had to suppress another chuckle at the almost automatic answer. Peter was a lot more obedient at 16 than he  had been but… then again, Peter **_was_** literally swinging through New York to stop muggers left and right so…did that even out? Tony shook his head.

“Now you can say whatever it is you started saying.”

“M- Dr. Stark-”

“Just ‘Tony’ is fine, you know?” but this time he was ignored, which made Tony raise an eyebrow.

“You asked for my help and I agreed. If I got hurt, it wouldn’t be on you.”

Tony could only stare incredulously at the teenager because, my God, what in the…what kind of logic was that?!

“Peter, can I ask you something?”

“Yes, Dr. Stark.”

“You hide the fact that you're Spider-Man because you don’t want your aunt and friends to get hurt because the things you do behind the mask, correct?”

“Well…that- there is more to it, but yes.”

“You would feel responsible if, for example, that Goblin guy targeted your aunt because he'd discovered your real identity, correct?”

“Yeees...” Peter drawled, suddenly knowing where this was going. Perhaps he wasn’t as smart as Tony Stark, yet (and that was hardly a fair comparison), but even he knew where Dr. Stark was going with this. And Dr. Stark didn’t even say anything else after that. “Look this is different. I am…not your responsibility…”

“You want to be so specific then I have to say: yes you are. You are a minor, you can’t even legally drink. Do you even have a driver’s license? And I dragged you out of the country to fight Enhanced beings. Doesn’t matter that you didn’t listen to me about staying out of reach or that you ‘agreed’ to follow my lead,” the older male took a deep breath, “I put you in danger… in something that you have no stake in. And I'm sorry.”

“Ah… you are forgiven…?”

He had to smile a little at the uncertain expression. Teenagers! Now to the hard part, “Now… about your aunt…”

 


	41. And Things Go Round

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My amazing Beta: Fritti13!
> 
> And rec time: The Days of Reckoning Are Upon Us by Ana (Anafandom)... simply AMAZING!

Sam’s eyes widened at the sight that was waiting for him in the interrogation room. Marlene Stevens. She was almost 34 and had retired from the military last year; a Warrant Officer with many honors. Her biggest struggles, nowadays, wasn’t her memories... at least not directly...  but her fear for her fiancée, Roy Hamilton, who was still in the service. Frank Collins was sitting beside her. Unlike Marlene, he was burly, middle aged and happily working as a lawyer now that he was retired from the Navy.  That had been almost two years ago, now, and he'd gotten his PTSD under control enough to work again. He had a pretty funny rivalry with his younger brother, Justin, who was enlisted in the Army instead of the Air Force. Sam barely spared a glance for the suited man by their side.

“Marlene? Frank? What are you doing here?”

“The fact that you don’t know speaks volumes.” Marlene was a cheerful person, normally. Her PTSD made her flinch at sudden movements and she hate the unexpected, but it didn’t make her angry at the world. It was no different now. She wasn’t angry, she was cold. Her voice, usually a little louder than what was considered polite and racing at a hundred miles per hour, was low and clear. Frank’s hands tightened to fists in his lap but, unlike Marlene, his face was still composed and he didn’t say anything, just kept staring at Sam.

Sam still couldn’t figure out what they were doing here. Did his lawyer put them up to this? Did theirs? Did Stark? But why would they and why would they listen to the other side? In spite of her bubbly personality, Marlene thought things over a thousand times before doing anything... and trying to push Frank around? Better luck making a rhino move when it didn't want to.

“You don’t know” her tanned skin got pale and her brown eyes widened in disbelief and… betrayal? “Counselor aside, I honestly thought you were my friend, Sam.” Her breath quickened but it didn’t look like a panic attack. Now she just looked angry and Sam had never been so lost.

“I **_am_** your friend, Marlene.”

“Are you Roy’s?” She formed fists in her lap, trying to rein her feelings in again. This was… this wasn’t what she'd hoped would happen.

“Of course I am!”

The Warrant Officer felt her nails breaking the skin in her palms but at least her breaths slowed down. “Then how come you're still using the present tense?”

“What are you talking about?”

Frank was the one to answer, speaking for the first time since Sam arrived in the room. “Because Roy died in Bucharest, as did Justin.” Almost casually, he gestured to their lawyer, who was already spreading many papers across the table.

~*~

Clint and Scott both had criminal records: murder and felony grand theft respectively, multiple counts of illegal entry, battering and assault... all before going into SHIELD and prison each. That certainly didn’t endear them to the jury or judge, but the lawyer (the same one who was representing both since Jennifer Walters was now too busy to organize the mess that was Scott Lang) was no idiot. He pushed to have Scott in front of the judge first.

A cleaner record than Clint’s by **_a lot_** , Scott Lang had gone to prison for two years to pay for his mistakes with a reduced sentence for good behavior. Leipzig, however, was something else. Illegal trespass of sovereign borders was a **_lot_** different, as was the destruction of three airplanes, solely by his actions alone. His attack could have killed Colonel James Rhodes as well as the King of Wakanda, T’Challa, by using barely tested technology, which put not only himself, but others, in grave danger.

Still, if Lang could escape the fire, Barton would be almost easy. But the archer couldn’t be tried first or else all hope was lost for Lang. Scott came off as completely immature, reckless but ultimately naïve about… pretty much everything. Unlike Clint Barton, who was a former mercenary and assassin... someone acutely aware of how his actions could end someone’s life and who, with his connections as a “retired” Avenger, should have known about the current political climate. Scott had committed the same crimes as Barton (plus the destruction of three commercial airplanes and several vehicles…including the fuel tanker he'd thrown, and the near accidental murder of an U.S. Air Force Colonel and a reigning Wakandan monarch) but if Scott got off with a lighter sentence, there was no reason for Clint not to as well, since the arguments in Lang’s defense could also be used for the archer’s.

The lawyer sighed again for what felt like the millionth time that day and it wasn’t even noon yet. Calmly putting all the papers back in his suitcase, he adjusted his glasses and reached to his right. How he could have such perfect depth perception was baffling to those that didn’t know him. Matt Murdock deliberately searched across the ground ahead of him with the useless white cane.

~*~

_“Three months have passed since the day all of the rogue Avengers were finally apprehended and, pushed by Colonel Rhodes and newly promoted Colonel Danvers, the newest amendments to the Sokovia Accords have now been approved without delay. The section that covers possible signatories’ criminal antecedents now has tighter conditions and expectations, including the need to sign contracts ensuring multiple reviews of conduct before being instated as an Avenger. It also provides reviews after each mission to ensure that the law, first and foremost, is followed and failure to follow these pre-established conditions will ensure appropriate repercussions. At the same time, the new clause now protects the families of those individuals similar a witness protection program.”_

“Thank you, Ian.” Christine Everheart turned to the camera with her usual saccharine smile and sharp eyes, “As we saw, the current military personnel connected with the Avengers are proving themselves much more trustworthy than their predecessors. With pristine careers in the Air Force, Danvers and Rhodes are repairing our American credibility with the world, and not a moment too soon. Just a few minutes ago, we received confirmation that the first official mission under the newly revised Accords has been approved and the properly trained and integrated personnel deployed. The structure and organization, as well as the active members of the Avengers Initiative, can be seen on the UN website. It lists Colonel James Rupert Rhodes, codename War Machine, as one of the Commanding Officers in the field for the first team of Avengers under the Accords. Makes sense, after all, as he is a highly trained, actual military man who knows what he is doing.” She finished with another smile while turning to her special guest, “What are your thoughts, Dr. van Dyne?”

“Relief.” Hope turned towards the cameras with a serious expression. “This is how it should be done. Proper assessment of signatories’ antecedents – being them criminal or not, proper training, proper integration and proper evaluation to see if they are field-ready - not only physically but mentally as well and how well they work as a team, and proper codes of conduct in case of personal or professional friction. A single mistake from someone like us, with so much metaphorical and physical power, can cause extremely catastrophic consequences. If a nervous policeman’s or a rookie doctor’s wrong timing or wrong twitch of fingers can kill someone, the same can be said for myself and my teammates, times a thousand. When my father and I developed the Giant technology it was done experimentally. We already knew the possibilities and limitations of the shrinking abilities, but we had no official objective when we were attempting the opposite... not to decrease the distance between molecules but to increase it. And–” she sighed and for a second the businesswoman’s steeled expression softened in remorse – “perhaps this contributed to Scott Lang’s thoughtless and reckless actions and clear lack of critical thinking.”

“Do you think you really influenced Mr. Lang’s actions in the airport to this extent?”

“Perhaps not substantially.” Hope grimaced a little. “But I can’t say that my father and I helped matters. There was a lot of bad blood between Hank Pym and Howard Stark and how we began and operated the experiments of the Giant Tech…I can appreciate the difference between Mr. Lang’s decision and our own words but, perhaps this… **_we_** created a false safety net that he began to believe in.”

Christine gave her a few seconds before going for the throat, “Scott Lang’s trial will begin in two days, and it is my understanding that you and Dr. Pym are to be called as witnesses?”

“That is correct.” Hope was perfectly composed, almost like she expected the question.

“It is interesting that Mr. Lang’s trial begins in the same week that the new amendments to the Accords’ section of criminal antecedents are pushed through, specifically about first time offenders being given shorter probation periods and, to put it simply, an ‘easier’ way into Avengers membership. Didn’t Scott Lang receive a full pardon for his crimes against VistaCorp prior to his appearance in Leipzig?”

But the other woman didn’t react how the reporter had expected. Hope seemed even more serious than before, “I think you will find that the newest version of the Sokovia Accords will hardly assist Mr. Lang, if at all. Another clause approved in the new amendments also states that a new trial will be in order for any new members with criminal antecedents that wish to receive membership and therefore, working off their sentence in this way. For Mr. Lang to be sanctioned as an Avenger, not only a new trial with a new jury and judge will be needed to reevaluate his case but also a UN panel consisting of nine rotational members whose countries signed the Accords, along with its six Avengers chairmen, representing their respective continents, will have to vote and only then will Mr. Lang be allowed to be an Avenger by a majority vote.”

~*~

“In the end, Matt delivered what he promised.” Jennifer muttered to Hope and Laura. Vision carefully put a plate of steaming green cream in front of each of them while Rhodey talked quietly to Tony in the back of the room.

“What Murdock promised and managed to achieve is already a lot more than I thought he could.” Hope mumbled to herself, still watching all the people getting up from their seats and the lawyer and prosecutor talking to their clients.

Jennifer just shrugged, “That’s good for Clint, though.” she turned to Laura.

_“And as the case of Lang in Germany is concluded, the trial of the people against Maximoff finally goes into motion. The Supreme Court of the Netherlands enters the scene to once again judge a Nazi, as history repeats itself in the modern world. Security measures have been implemented; technology and sorcery will be used to fortify the walls and protect the civilians against possible attacks from Wanda Maximoff. Members of the Avengers - Vision Stark-Banner, aka The Vision, and Doctor Stephen Strange, will be present to ensure mental and physical health as per request of the UN.”_

An anchor turned from the screen, “Well, what do you think, Susan?”

“History repeats itself indeed, Mark. International pressure finally bends the US and, not long after Maximoff, we will even have Steve Rogers there!”

“It’s worth remembering that Mr. Rogers was already in the ice since the last time the Hague tried a Nazi, oops, sorry, a modern Neo-Nazi.” the man gave a shark-like grin.

Susan just rolled her eyes, “Lack of knowledge seems strangely common among those who followed Steve Rogers in the so called 'Civil War', but does ignorance excuse them? First: Sharon Carter and Natalia Romanova. I was honestly baffled when Ms. Carter simply threw her own case in the air like that but, as the prosecutor presented all the evidence of her crimes, Sharon Carter remained unmoved.”

 “Oh, but I think that Ms. Romanova’s reasons, if we can call them that, in supporting Captain America are a lot more entertaining. What was it that she said in that footage? “He wasn’t going to stop?” That was simply a hoot and a half! And here I thought that apprehending Steve Rogers, Samuel Wilson and James Barnes was the whole motive behind going to Leipzig at all but uh… guess not?” Mark snorted.

“And then we see Mr. Wilson,” the woman leaned back, “and his blank expression when asked why he didn’t sign the Accords when the deal to make legal his actions in Bucharest was offered to him.”

“And Lang!” Mark actually threw his head back to fully appreciate his laugh, “He didn’t even **_know_** that the fight in Leipzig had almost everything to do with James Barnes and Steve Rogers and nothing at all to do about the Accords! The man didn’t even **_read_** them! ‘Saving the world’… oh yeah...”

~*~

“Ok, that is…” Rhodey shook his head, making Hope, Jennifer and Laura jump, as they had not noticed him making his way towards them.

“Don’t do that!” Jennifer gritted, struggling for just a second to not turn green… and then for another second when all Rhodey did was shrug at her.

“I liked that program. How come I've never even heard of it?”

“It’s a news/comedy British program based in Scotland. More or less new since it only began about three years ago, but already with considerable manpower because they focus primarily on Enhanced international activity. They must be having a feast right now.” Hope explained.

“How do you know that?”

“Pym Technologies doesn’t have the same international reach as SI but I still need to know what is going on in the world, especially because of my father’s past as Ant-Man and because I'm now using the Wasp suit. That program does their research and covers almost everything besides being pretty accurate even if the delivery is…”

“Not very politically correct?” Vision offered quietly.

“Yeah, sure, that”

~*~


	42. One Day at a Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, the only excuse I have for neglecting this fic is this: [...Can only go so far](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11536488), my newest work, hope you like it and that it somehow compensates for the time it took me to update this ^^
> 
> As always: SO much love for Fritti13, my amazing editor that doesn't let me get away with too long periods without a new chap!

Tony sighed. How was any of this his fault? The second that Maximoff got into court, he already knew that somehow this would give the shadows beneath his eyes another chance to shine.

Wanda, being Wanda, had reached her own conclusions about what court was really all about. Tony took a few seconds to feel sympathy for the poor, twenty-something-year-old lawyer that prolly just passed the bar exam and clearly had no idea what to do to try and control his client. The doomed expression on the guy’s face already said much of how the trial would proceed. Tony thought that the gem of the afternoon was:

_“I can’t control other people’s fears, I can only control my own.”_

_“…Isn’t your powers just that? About controlling other people’s fears?”_

And that was about the time that Maximoff was set off, _heh that rhymed_ , Tony shook his head. The rest of it was what was troubling Tony. No one in the world knew, and the billionaire really doubted that even Steve knew, that the real reason the Maximoff twins joined HYDRA was because a SI shell fell on their building when they were ten and killed their parents.

_“WE WAITED FOR TWO DAYS FOR STARK TO KILL US!”_

The horrible thing about all this… was that Tony couldn't find it in himself to feel bad about it. The first time he'd heard about it was from Hill, a couple of days after he woke up and after Strange and Bruce finished testing his health. In 2000, when Wanda’s parents died, the US and the EU didn’t have much contact at all, aside from rumors that the CIA would have made several stops with high profile suspects of terrorism, but that was in 2001. Deeper research took him, obviously, to Sokovia. That country was not special, in and of itself, but in Maria Hill’s words: _“it’s the way to everywhere special”._  Basically, it was strategically worthy, a potential crossroads. A country dragged into its neighbors’ fights and, while that was horrible, the shell that killed the Maximoff's… wasn’t even meant for Sokovia at all. The plane that was carrying it was destroyed and its cargo had dropped…and that was the end of it. Did Tony feel bad about the deaths? Of course, but he didn’t feel guilty.

With Steve’s insistence that the twins were misunderstood and were only trying to protect their country, he was also targeted by the judge. How was it that such an unstable woman was made an Avenger? Why had no one investigated her before all this? Is that how you run the Avengers? By admitting whatever terrorists claimed to have changed their opinions? It did not help that Steve had confirmed Maria’s press conference months prior: he'd just assumed that protecting Sokovia was the reason the twins enlisted in HYDRA. So, from negligent and abetting terrorists, he went to naïve and borderline ignorant but, fortunately for him, that was not against any laws.

When the prosecutor presented those facts to both of them, Steve tried to deny it, which was halted when asked, “Have you even ever asked her why she enlisted HYDRA?”

And, OK, that had been funny to watch. It even distracted Tony when he'd heard Pepper commenting that Bruce was consulting with Stephen Strange about Barnes’ decision to undergo the surgery to remove the neural-transmitters and how they were going to approach the issue of the Super Soldier Serum burning through anesthesia and his rapidly healing cuts. And no, not touching that.

If he was to be honest with himself, Tony already knew that somehow B. A. R. F was going to come up, one way or another, in Barnes’ treatment. Never mind that it was untested and the only degrees of Tony's that came anywhere close of that area was his neurobiology one and had nothing to do with psychoanalysis. Everybody just assumed that Barnes’ HYDRA conditioning was just that: conditioning. Some kind of brainwashing which… kinda put the onus on Steve since he was the one that was, even now, insisting that “Bucky broke the conditioning”. Oh boy, once the public caught wind of that, and they would since they always did, that no, it wasn’t a psychological issue but a tech one and there was no ‘cure’ aside from a medical and technological procedure…But Bruce’s discovery puts Tony on the sidelines since, aside from how the neural-transmitters worked, this wasn’t his specialty at all and… and he was restless and relieved at the same time.

He was trying to remember how Charles had phrased it, that he ‘didn’t have the responsibility to fix other people’s lives’. Basically that he ‘didn’t have to do everything himself’, as Pepper and Rhodey have been insisting for years now with no success. But Tony thinks that it was the way Charles had put some distance between them and how, regardless of a few meetings and video-calls and an owed favor here and there, they weren’t close enough that Tony could just dismiss how Charles didn’t know how much work he had going on since he purposefully hides it… the whole telepathy thingy was another argument for that last one.

How Tony was falling in the same trap that Rogers did. Believing he was the only one for the job, ‘the safest hands are our own’, and wasn’t that a wakeup call? And yet, he had no idea why he did that. Whenever something bio-related came up, Tony simply let Bruce, and now Stephen, take the stage with barely a shrug. Or when they met in Cambridge for that ridiculous symposium, he let Hank McCoy talk over him. Trying to play at therapist? He just gave them Charles’ card. Tony used to give Leonard Samson’s but he had no idea how Bruce felt about the guy so…

_“How did provoking the Hulk into attacking Johannesburg fit your goal to hurt Tony Stark?”_

_“I didn’t… that wasn’t for…Ultron’s plan was for me to incapacitate the Avengers, I didn’t know that Banner was going go off like that!”_

_“May I present the video 56-B?”_

And right there, it showed Tony’s own one-on-one interaction with Ultron.

_“…but first, you might need to catch Dr. Banner.”_

_“That doesn’t seem to be Ultron’s own goals.” The prosecutor concluded._

Tony sighed. That was stupid. Duped by Ultron or not and, ok, what Wanda did to the others and what she did to Bruce did have different outcomes and perhaps she hadn't wanted that, but provoking Bruce with a mental attack was the height of stupidity. And maybe that was the problem. None of them had malicious intent but they just did whatever they thought was best without thought to the consequences.

That wasn’t 100% accurate, either. That tape of Wanda messing with his head just before he took the scepter was…that wasn’t Wanda thinking what she thought was best, and Tony simply didn’t know what to feel about that. He abhorred the idea that his actions weren’t his own and the relief that he should be feeling to know that there was something else going on in the whole Ultron disaster wasn’t there.

_“You didn’t read the Accords but you still didn’t think about possible amendments or peaceful ‘everyday’ solutions such as lobbying. You walked out of the only team discussion that the Avengers ever had about the Accords. You didn’t go to Vienna by your own volition and you don’t even know what possible compromises Dr. Stark was talking about when he mentioned the clause about signatories with criminal pasts, nor that it was a clause in the Accords instead of some negotiation made by Dr. Stark on your behalf, as well as for Air Force Staff Sargent Wilson and Army Sergeant Barnes.”_

_“No. I didn’t… know any of this.”_ Tony could only sigh at Steve’s answer. Perhaps he should have made himself clearer.

Perhaps he should have made sure that Steve knew what he was talking about. That Steve actually understood the Accords. And yet… was that really his fault? So, OK, Rogers had always been a man of conviction, maybe too much of it. When he'd decided that he couldn’t trust governments (which should have been hint number one since… who the hell called the U.N. a government?), Tony thought that he'd read the Accords and understood that the U.N. getting involved was a huge red flag. Tony had no idea that so many people, Rogers included, had to be **_told_** that the U.N. displays all their documents (past, present and future) and their amendments on their website, for anyone with access to internet to see.

How was Tony to know that, despite the damn thing being in the works for the last two years, and therefore on the U.N. website for two years, that the meeting with Ross was the first time anyone on the official Avengers roster heard of the Accords? Perhaps Natasha and Sam did but, if they had, then theirs were the only opinions that Tony could actually listen to since they would have been the only ones who knew what they were talking about.

_“So even knowing that another teammate, Vision, would be better fit to go after Army Sargent Barnes, you did not voice that opinion to Mr. Rogers?”_

_“No I did not.”_

_“And you also trusted one Ms. Sharon Carter on classified and sensitive information about Sargent Barnes’ location despite her long career and deep roots in the organization known as S. H. I. E. L. D?”_

Tony had to wince. They weren’t close, Sharon and him. A few Christmas's when Peggy was in town and a few SHIELD related meetings wasn’t enough to ‘bond’. The difference in age of more than a decade also played a part. By the time he'd turned 17, Tony was already in business, having just graduated from M.I.T., and the girl had just managed to ride her bike without training wheels.

But Tony knew that, despite what she might have done, Sharon was not HYDRA. Unfortunately, the way SHIELD fell…the files dumped online didn’t only put the agents out there at risk, whether in the middle of a mission, retired or agent's families, but those that stayed behind as well. Because Rogers and Romanov decided to treat the entire organization as too compromised by HYDRA, the public only heard that the entire organization **_was_** HYDRA and, therefore, anyone that was ever a SHIELD agent was immediately blacklisted.

That was a consequence that not many Avengers (really only Tony and Rhodey) ever had contact with and perhaps that was on Tony too, at least partially. He'd stepped in when SHIELD fell, ready to offer his tower and, later, his Compound for the cause and that was only for the former SHIELD agents that he'd managed to extract from missions. The great majority were ones that were already safe here in U.S…just without job prospects. Now that he thought about it, Natasha had to answer a few uncomfortable questions from Congress, but neither Sam nor Steve even did that much when it all went south.

Turning his attention back to Sam’s trial, he saw that Romania was almost beaming that Wilson was being confronted by people so close to home. The world is small indeed. Since Tony was used to travelling everywhere for SI and sometimes for the Avengers, he knew how likely it was to bump into people that you didn’t want to meet, so Sam’s situation made him wince but it didn’t surprise him.

_“And after participating in the deaths of seventeen people, ten of which were civilians, you tried to illegally appropriate another aircraft in order to go to Siberia?”_

_“Yes.”_ Gotta give credit to Sam. He didn’t know about Wanda’s hand in Johannesburg or in Ultron and his trial was basically him pleading no contest. And the only reason Tony can think of for Sam _not_ pleading no contest was because he honestly wanted his mistakes laid out for the public to see. Which was noble and kinda stupid, even if more noble than stupid, but Tony could be wrong about his reasons.

Natasha’s problems weren’t so much related to Leipzig anymore. She would have to answer for abetting criminals but that was it since T’Challa wasn’t filling charges for assault. Pepper had suggested exposing her actions back in 2010 and getting her for sabotage and espionage but what was the point almost seven years later? Natasha could no longer apply to be an Avenger, thanks to the newest amendments pushed by Hope and Bruce’s to take legal action against her… and having won. An official Avenger suing, and winning, the case effectively invalidated any possible membership. The risk of being too emotionally compromised to function well as teammates on the field was too high. It made sense and it was reasonable… and completely erased any chance of Natasha’s restitution as an Avenger, not that she had much of one after Leipzig.

Whoever followed Steve hadn't signed the Accords. They'd drawn a line and had fought for it. Natasha wasn’t the only one to jump ship (T’Challa came to mind) but she was mainly the one whose actions the world was judging more harshly because, unlike T’Challa, she had nothing to offer. It was cruel and unfair but it was how it was. Tony was betting that, after her prison term ended, she would end up where she started: under the new SHIELD’s ATCU. Sharon would spend more time in jail. However, SHIELD, old or new, wasn’t known for burning assets without any gain. On the flip side of the coin, it had been SHIELD that turned both of them in. So that could go either way. And not caring was a new feeling for Tony.

He had to snort at that. Not caring had always been the problem and he had no middle ground for it. For years people accused him of not caring about making money off of war, “The Merchant of Death”. And then, for years, Rhodey and Pepper, and even Happy, kept saying that he cared too much. And now here they were. Sharon represented a connection to a woman he deeply admired and Natasha was a teammate he'd sacrificed a lot for…and Tony just didn’t care. Oh, of course he was feeling concerned for them, having spent quite a few nights in jail due to his ‘wild youth’, and that was being the ‘spoiled son of tycoon Howard Stark’, but Tony couldn’t find it in himself to feel bad for them. It was much like the feeling he got whenever Wanda came up.

And it was freeing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three things I think are worthy their own notes:
> 
> 1st: Much like I don't think it's fair to put Bucky and Tony in the same room (and 'no', rationally, Bucky is not to blame for Howard and Maria's deaths, this is not what this is about), I don't think it is healthy to put Bruce and Natasha (or Wanda for that matter) in the same room either. I could have put Wanda but I think Natasha hits closer to home. Bruce trusted her and she betrayed that trust while Wanda was an enemy (arguibly still is) so what she did in Johannesburg doesn't carry the same emotional weight of what Natasha did in Sokovia. That's my take on it and was more or less inspired by [Concerns About Team Dynamics](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8765929) by KahunaBurger. The worry that KahunaBurger exposes in this fic can also be the reverse. Such as the case between Tony and Bucky, and Bruce and Wanda. Hence: the new amendment.
> 
> 2nd: Many fics have Maria blacklisted after SHIELD's fell and I had to marinate on that for this idea to click. A less 'dangerous' consequence of Widow dumping all those files in the internet. Natasha dumped ALL files, meaning that the rest of the world saw Captain America, Black Widow and Falcon treating SHIELD (all of SHIELD) like HYDRA. While those out in missions would feel that one more keenly, what about the ones that were in the American SHIELD's HQ? What happened to them? And now we have people like Sharon, whose credibility are forever shaken because of that. So much, that an attorney used that as legal argument.
> 
> And lastly: I don't think the Avengers (ANY of them) trully knew why the Maximoff twins enlisted HYDRA. Steve just assumed that they were some kind of "Captain Sokovia" (gotta love [The Days of Reckoning Are Upon Us](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10953375/chapters/24378366) by Ana) and... I don't know why the rest of them accepted Wanda like that, the only reason I could come up with is that they just fell in line with Steve *shruggs*. The fact that Wanda blamed Tony for her parents' deaths would deny that and *le gasp* make Steve wrong! Since I doubt that Steve (or anyone for that matter) ever ASKED her why she enlisted HYDRA, then it stands to reason that Wanda never had to deal with her animosity to Tony being scrutinized (and some of her actions *cough Ultron cough* revealed) and that Steve (or anyone else) had to deal with that potentially dangerous problem... as leader of the Avengers, now this is falling on Steve's head... which might as well because the guy never even met the twins and just ASSUMED that they enlisted in f*cking HYDRA 'for their country' *looks up in exasperation*.


	43. Knots Part I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo sorry for the delay. Anyway next chap will prolly be faster, I already have the rought draft :D
> 
> As usual, many thanks for Fritti13. You amazing you!

Jennifer fought not to scowl at the situation.

Shuri was a brilliant and resourceful woman whose only ‘wrongdoing’ was actually being praised, not only by her own country but by the world at large and yet, according to the laws she swore to uphold, Shuri would need to be formally reprimanded. The princess’ expression was unreadable. The doors closed behind her and Jennifer couldn’t follow beyond them.

~*~

“After careful analysis, and taking into consideration all the facts, for going against the direct wishes of the then ruling monarch, T’Challa, her highness, princess Shuri has forfeited her position and all the rights and privilages thereof, but not her birthright to be in the line of succession for the throne. However, this parliament has reached the conclusion that a new contest is needed for the honor of holding the Black Panther mantle and the former princess will not be stopped from participating.”

~*~

“Let me see if I understand. Your parliament said that you can no longer hold the title of princess of Wakanda because you went against your king’s order to keep the fact that Rogers and his Stooges were in the country. But on the other hand, T’Challa broke some kind of taboo by even bringing them in and allowing them to remain in the heart of Wakanda after the deaths in Lagos, and let's not mention the fact that three of the six were involved in that particular debacle, so he lost the right to be the Black Panther.  Now, instead of kicking you out of the country altogether, as would be the norm, they said that you can still participate to fight for the right to be the Black Panther and the protector of Wakanda…?” Jennifer thought that she did a good job trying to summarize whatever is it that she managed to get.

“Yes.” Shuri sighed, “Even if I lose, I will still hold my place as Wakanda’s main diplomat and Ambassador, for the Parliament saw my actions as loyal to Wakanda even if not to the monarch. That and the fact that my Uncle does not have any heirs, means any child of mine or even T’Challa’s will be in the line for the throne once Uncle deems him or her ready for the crown. We lost our right to the throne but our children didn’t. It is luck that our Uncle is quite a bit younger than our Father, so there is no apparent rush.”

The lawyer bit her lip, not knowing what to say to the former princess, Shuri didn’t look sad but Jennifer learned early on that the younger woman was master at masking her reactions.

“I won’t pretend to understand or even know Wakandan customs, but I think they've lost an excellent leader.” That much was true and it did drag a small smile from the younger woman.

“None of the credit is mine. Ms. Potts and Colonel Rhodes planned most of it. Well, the plan was actually to have T’Challa and I throwing ourselves on the mercy of the people but the fact that they came up with the decisions on their own will send the right message: not even the crown is above reproach. On the other hand, our Uncle is just as cunning as our Father. He managed to convince the right people to let T’Challa still hold the name, even if not the duty, of the Black Panther. Ultimately, the Black Panther is Wakanda’s protector first and foremost, and not to be rude, but the rest of the world doesn’t have much priority over that aspect of the role. Of course, that is something that the Parliament is trying to keep quiet. Our religion is not something openly discussed and no one else needs to, what do Americans call it, ‘See our dirty laundry’?”

“…basically, you and your parliament, your Uncle I mean, want the world to think that the ‘Black Panther’ they are getting is just as important in the eyes of Wakanda as they are trying to sell to the world. Sneaky.”

“Thank you, the merit for this particular move is my Uncle’s, though.”

~*~

“This is getting ridiculous.” Tony motioned around him.

They were at the Compound, in a ‘Danger Room’, so to speak, not much unlike the one in Charles Xavier’s mansion, training Tony’s new fighting capabilities. Turns out that Tony could alter his own physiology and, for lack of a better term, ‘integrate’ new pieces of tech in… well, himself and he was trying to do just that and test it too. So far, Tony had managed to integrate non-lethal electrical dischargers and was currently, as per Bruce Banner’s request, trying to make an optical program that would calculate the mass and compensate the appropriate voltage to take an opponent out, but not kill them.

Would Tony be able to do that using math on a board (or even paper, for heaven’s sake) and then building it? Of course, but these people wanted him to do that using his new physiology…which he was still in the process of trying to understand how to use everything that was literally inside his body. Cho’s description was apt enough: it was like learning how to use a third arm.

“This idea is already one of your projects so two stones and all. We are trying to test whether you can create new tech from the parts that your… you absorbed.” Bruce still looked as if he had no idea what kind of words to use. Like Tony said: not many precedents for this.

“You said so before but, seriously, I have been doing weird shit with myself for years. You guys don’t have to be here to witness me looking constipated.”

Even Stephen, who was distracted by the readings concerning the energy Tony was giving off, paused at that, “‘Weird shit that you do with yourself’?”

A moment of silence and then Tony giggled, high-pitched and like a 12 year old girl, “I didn’t mean like that but the fact that this is where your mind jumped to says more about you than me.” And he grinned triumphantly at Stephen, who scowled right back.

“Tony?”

“Yeah, Brucie-Bear?”

“What kind of ‘weird shit’?” it didn’t really look like the physicist wanted to know. Actually, he had an expression of dread but, as one of Tony’s doctor (he lost count of how many times he had to insist on not being this kind of doctor), Bruce needed to know.

“Meh, there was this one time that I injected myself with glow in the dark edible body paint. Wanted to see if my veins would get glowy. Almost got blood poisoning but, in my defense, I had just completed my third PhD and those damn professors didn’t want me starting another project so soon and I was still in college, so I was bored and really high on pot.”

“Didn’t you begin college at 14 and graduated at 17?”

“Shhh.” His voice was soft and whispered while Tony patted and rubbed Stephen’s arms as if comforting a sad child, “Tony is here.”

Both men deadpanned at the ridiculous gesture. Stephen didn’t know Tony very well to realize but Bruce was inwardly glad that, with every day that passed, Tony was joking more and more. Should have known better than to tempt fate, even in thought.

_“Boss? The UN Accords Council just summoned the New Avengers. Dr. Strange and Dr. van Dyne are also needed and they'd like Dr. Banner to be on standby. Colonel Marvel is already being briefed.”_

“Wow, that is some serious firepower. What for?”

_“Thaddeus Ross.”_

~*~

“Is it a good idea to involve Dr. Banner? With his history with the former Secretary there might be a conflict of interest.”

“And this is why he will be on standby.” Rhodey calmly repeated himself to the European representative. As expected he, along with the African representative, were the most cautious and always asked the most questions. They were tired of their countries (more like continents by now) suffering because of lack of foresight. “Considering the research Ross stole before his… disappearance, we can reasonably assume that the man was intending on Enhancing himself.”

Rhodey cursed himself and then cursed Tony, too, although the billionaire was probably doing a pretty good job of it for himself without him and that was pretty much why Jim was cursing him.

Because, apparently, **_everybody_** failing to predict that the power hungry former General and Secretary of the State was going to do something crazy, illegal and dangerous was on Tony. Yeah, right. They were just too busy with literally everything else that they were dumb enough to fall for such an obvious and on the nose trick, one that probably not even Ross thought was going to work: laying low. The only probable, even if likely, saving grace was that Ross was one paranoid bastard so he probably took very careful steps not to call their attention to him until whatever it is that he did was completed, which meant that the ‘timing’ wasn’t so much timing as it was sheer dumb luck that Ross decided to strike just as their job with the main Accords amendments passed through and the former Avengers were put into jail with their respective sentences. That still made Rhodes smile.

~*~

“What **_can_** we conclude?” Jennifer sent a nervous look towards her cousin, who was calmly sipping his tea (although the toxic green eyes were a dead giveaway of his emotional state).

“As Secretary of State, Ross was there when Tony submitted his updated files to the Accords Council. It was a matter of public record in the UN website just a week later, so nothing there would be any news to the average Joe who was interested enough to look.” Rhodes flipped through the files on the table in his lap.

“And then he had the brilliant idea to steal the research when it was in transition with Helen.” Tony concluded, rubbing his face tiredly.

A month ago, shortly after Tony had woken from his ‘mechanical’ coma, Rhodes had managed to get Ross out of official Avengers business after the investigation had begun and the colonel had testified about the threat/blackmail from Ross. When the man had given Tony 36 hours to apprehend the fugitives, he'd overstepped his authority. Ross had no right to act on the UN’s behalf and now the 117 original countries were moving against him as well. The spotlight may have been on Rogers, but that didn't mean Ross would get out of this one smelling like roses.

He had still been Secretary, however, so he'd still been involved in all things international. Rhodes still doesn’t get the argument against the Accords using Ross. The Secretary of State would have been involved, regardless, whether or not it was Ross. He was the one that dealt with foreign affairs. Pretty much all of them and the colonel had to groan a little at that.

If this whole mess was teaching him anything it was how ignorant people can be. So they'd taken a look at Secretary of State, the main negotiator and link for foreign affairs, and immediately thought that he could dictate what the UN could do? So perhaps he was exaggerating (a little), but Rhodes couldn’t help but think that most people (Rogers) made that jump.

Whatever the case was, even if not involved in the process, the Secretary of State would **_have_** to be informed in order to pass along status updates to the U.S. president. Thinking that a brand new set of papers with details on how to tackle how Enhanced individuals should operate internationally wouldn’t involve the U.S.’ equivalent of a goddamn **_Minister of Foreign Affairs_** was beyond unreasonable. And not because the UN said so, (Rhodey had to snort; as if most countries even **_listened_** to the UN if it didn’t fit their interests), but because the fucking U.S. president said so.

The public was being educated by force and, as much as Rhodes knew the long term gains, he couldn’t help but cringe that it had taken this disaster, and so much suffering, for the common Joe to get interested in what happens outside of their walls. Perhaps that wasn’t completely fair, most of them knew it by news or something or the other, but now they were forced to actually care and do something about it and, after everything, at least half the country could understand the basics of international relations, legalese and global crisis. The good thing was that now the baker at the corner knew that “accessory charges” and “accessory after the fact” existed? Awesome thing! Was it a nice way to learn the information? Not so much.

Rhodes snapped back to the meeting, “But why would he want the Extremis virus? It has a very low rate of success and the only reason it worked so well with Tony is because of the previous dose he'd had and because of the nanites in his bloodstream. Neither information was in the file and, aside from Tony’s head, the blueprints on the nanites can’t be acquired.”

“Perhaps he thought that, in the years since he met Tony, Bruce might have found something else about his alter ego? Heaven knows how obsessed Ross has always been about the Hulk.”

“And then Ross thought that there could be an update in Bruce’s file too?” Jennifer completed Stephen’s thoughts a little doubtfully. That didn’t seem to fit the crazy former general’s MO.

Obsessive or not, Ross has always been a planner, striking blind on the **_chance_** of new info on the Hulk when his career was going up in flames and the risk of getting prosecuted due to crimes against humanity already looming on the horizon? That reeked of so much desperation that Jennifer was willing to call bullshit on it.

Looking around the table, the lawyer could see that most of them didn’t like Stephen’s theory either. But then… what use could Ross possibly have for Extremis? Unfinished, unstable and ultimately useless for anyone that didn’t have the unwilling preparation that Tony’s anatomy had beforehand.

“Perhaps I could be of some assistance.” T’Challa was standing at the entrance to the conference room and had the good grace to look a little ashamed at some of the more suspicious glances. Especially Rhodes’ and Bruce’s.

“What’s Wakandan Rogers doing here?” everybody ignored Carol’s confused muttering and Bruce was actually relieved that it was Carol instead of Jennifer. Chances were that his cousin would say it a lot louder and a lot more viciously.

Tony’s prediction came true enough: Natasha was being ‘bashed’ a lot more than T’Challa for the fact that she had next to nothing to offer. That was the public, but the authorities knew exactly how ‘scot free’ T’Challa was really getting out of this.

Sure, T’Challa had lost the crown… but that was it.  His powerful Uncle still granted him some immunity. Know that, afterBucharest, after showing his willingness to not only take in Rogers and his friends, knowing that, even if T’Challa hadn't helped with the Raft escape, he hadn't reported it which, in the eyes of the law and the people, meant that he'd helped them anyway with no regard to the lives already lost, and the guy wouldn't even have to see the inside of a courtroom as anything other than as a witness... it was a very bitter pill to swallow, regardless of the fact that it had been Pepper and Rhodes that'd come up with most of it for his sister’s sake, as agreed.

The former monarch cleared his throat, visibly uncomfortable, “I am sure that the Accords Committee have already notified the signatories of my new status and, since it was held here in New York and I may have information that may concern the former secretary Ross, the committee has granted me permission to come here before officially joining the New Avengers.”

“And what information would that be?”

“SHIELD, as I understand it, has a program that can fit on a USB drive that has the capability to scramble most security systems, including that of the Raft?”  He waited while Pepper only nodded and didn’t question Tony’s absence, “We have something very much like that. On the day I arrived in Wakanda with Sargent Barnes and Mr. Rogers, I had to use a similar device so that the cameras in my palace wouldn’t detect the… former Avengers. In order to liberate his teammates, Mr. Rogers took it. What he didn’t know is that this device is also used for data retrieval so, when connected to the main stream…”

“It also took the data from the Raft files.” Bruce completed for him, his mind racing with the possibilities.

“Yes. Nareema, a member of the Dora Milage, has just finished screening the files before delivering them to the legal authorities and it appears that the Raft, since being abandoned by SHIELD in 2014, was being used by Thaddeus Ross not only to keep doing what it was meant for, meaning the illegal incarceration of Enhanced individuals, but also as a base of operations by the former General.”

“Base of operations? To do what?”

“Recreate the Hulk.” Bruce’s voice was a little hesitant, as if not sure about his conclusion, but with no surprise if it turned out that he was right.

“So far it seems so. But there was one more entry after Dr. Stark was injected with Extremis and before the former Avengers were officially found. It seems he was trying to stabilize the, uh, ‘Hulk Formula’ using the same means as Dr. Stark stabilized Extremis.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized that there are some thing that will not fit this story. So there will prolly be some one shots after this ^^


End file.
